Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

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8/4/2019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/torn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 1/34 TORN NEST Ghulam Masih Naaman 1 Friends in England ............................ 2 2 Torn to Pieces ....................................3 3 Nest building and education ..............7 4 The love that builds .........................10 5 Nests I remember ............................ 13 6 More nests and problems ................ 15 7 White elephants and cars .................18 8 This was my nest .............................20 9 This was my Son ............................. 23 10 So take heed how you build ...........29 11 Obed's testimony in his own words 32 12 Quiz ............................................... 33 All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010 http://www.the-good-way.com

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TORN NEST

Ghulam Masih Naaman

1 Friends in England 2

2 Torn to Pieces 3

3 Nest building and education 7

4 The love that builds 10

5 Nests I remember 13

6 More nests and problems 15

7 White elephants and cars 18

8 This was my nest 20

9 This was my Son 23

10 So take heed how you build 29

11 Obeds testimony in his own words 32

12 Quiz 33

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1 Friends in England

I sit alone with my thoughts and myprayers I sit in England instead of Pakistan I sit with tears instead of familycelebration and joy at this time when mydear son Obed was to be married And I sitdeprived of his presence and help as ourbread winner in the time of my retirement

He was shot by Muslim fanatics Ithappened on that fateful night of June 21990 six months ago now In one sensemy family had been prepared for thisbecause I had received threatening letters

four years previously The reality wasdevastating But it was also a time of grace Because of my poor health mydaughter assisted me on the day followingto go over to the church where the funeralservice was led by the Reverend Johnsonfrom Hyderabad I was not expected totake part but managed to get to my feetand to say I have forgiven those people

who have killed my son I am evenprepared to kiss their hands if they come tome I sent telegrams the next dayrequesting prayer and was able to write tofriends in England I have taken thisinjury in a thankful way I have sacrificedthe precious son I had in Pakistan Mywife Daisy and I are the most fortunateparents to share the cup of the sufferingsWe are now realising what it means toforgive those who give us great pain

Yes and at the same time we were allutterly shattered Our nest was torn It wasbroken In our numbness and our grief wefaced a lot of practical tasks We had toleave Sukkur I took my wife Daisy to thecomparative security of her house inSialkot After seventeen years at StSaviours Church in Sukkur I prepared tohand over my responsibilities and onOctober 1 I was retired after 30 years inthe ordained ministry in the SindhProvince of Pakistan

Daisy and I were very quickly invited bymy CMS friends to spend at least sixmonths in the safety of England and Imanaged to obtain the needed entrypermits But her grief was very deep andshe chose to remain in Sialkot awaitingour older sons return from Korea oncompletion of his theological studies Ourdaughter Khulda also remained behind inKarachi to finish the last months of herpost-graduate studies in anaesthetics Soon that day October 17 1990 I flew aloneto Heathrow Airport with no idea of whatI would be doing in England On aprevious occasion the CMS friends hadmade arrangements for me This time I feltlike a defeated general who had all hissupporting forces killed in the field I feltthat there would not be much with me tooffer to anybody but only to show my

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wounds and share some tears with thepeople of God Yet I was at peace as Ifaced this new situation

I was met by Mrs Catherine Ray and wastaken to their home in Birmingham Afterwe had gone inside I soon realised thatPastor and Mrs Ray had moved into thishouse only a few days before becausethings were lying about and needed to beput in their proper places After I wasshown around and made comfortable Ihad nothing to do but sit and watchCatherine busily mending her nest Ibecame curious as to why she was doing itall herself and finally I questioned her Sheexplained to me that labour in Britain wasvery expensive and that they could notafford to take on any workmen She wasbusy until the very last minute before thewhole family left for London and Iremained quietly on my own in their newnest It became a sign of hope to me

Where would my own new nest beSeveral suggestions had been made by thefriends who had invited me - BishopMichael Nazir Ali the Reverend Mark Oxbrow of CMS Arthur Pont and KeithWood of Interserve and others Butnothing definite had been decided I beganto get in touch with my friends in differentparts of the country and I travelled to visitthem When I returned to Birmingham Iwas told by the Reverend and Mrs Raythat in Edinburgh there was a group of young people who called themselvesldquoAsian Concernrdquo They had set themselvesto reach out with the Word of Hope to themany Indians Pakistanis and others livingin Edinburgh They had invited me to meetthem So I went up there and found alovely group of people They includedRachel Marsh and Abby McGill a realScot who I sometimes found rather

difficult to understand I also met MerilynArmstrong who had some experience of being in Pakistan for a short time I alsomet Shabash Joshi and Shameem a lovelycouple with their three fine sons newlyconverted to the Christian faith And I metBirendra Rongong from Nepal and hiswife Morag and Timbu their son andmany others I had great joy in being withpeople who had a vision longing andwillingness for the work of God Theywanted me to join them and are preparing

a house for me As yet nothing is finalisedso I have time to meet Asians inBirmingham and I have time to go onsitting quietly My tears flow again Myown loss and emptiness seem to trigger off long-ago memories of other peoplesmiseries

2 Torn to Pieces

Today as I sit here a ghastly scene hasflashed back to my mind from the time of the Second World War I had been postedto Burma and saw Rangoon bombedseveral times First the Japanese raided andbombed and then the Allied Forces tried todrive them back This was repeated and Ithink Rangoon was bombed four timesuntil practically nothing was left After theJapanese attacks we were ordered to goaround the city to see if there were anysigns of life I remember the day when Ientered a heavily bombed area I climbedup to a room after crossing brokenstaircases and went into a place whereblood was coming from under the door Itwas a shocking sight a newly wed couplein their bed both killed I saw so manyplundered nests in those days

I remember some in the red-light areas of the city just after the war I had been

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transferred to be in charge of the Staff Police and had to patrol the areas wherethere were young prostitutes from variousparts of India Chittagong and all overBengal I questioned what it was that madethem adopt such a life style instead of thesecure family home to which my orthodoxMuslim background had accustomed meThe girls overcame their fear of mesufficiently to tell me that it was hungerand the desperate need of money to feedtheir families which drove them to

prostitution In those days a large part of the Indian population went hungry withno relief in sight from the government Ifelt it was my moral duty to get food givenout from the surplus rations in our unitstores in Bengal I ended up being taken totask for being unfaithful to the Britishgovernment and charges were broughtagainst me

Then early in 1947 I was discharged fromthe Royal Air Force and I returned toJammu in Kashmir and to moredestruction It was a time of politicalturmoil with the Partition of India andPakistan and sensitivities were heightenedin Kashmir which had a Muslim majoritybut was controlled by a Hindu ruler andhis army powers I wondered what Ishould do next My desire was to pleaseGod I was led by my Muslim religiousleaders to join the freedom fighter forcesto get Kashmir liberated from the Hindus

and ceded to Pakistan I was very muchconvinced that I should help my Muslimbrothers in this Jihad (lsquoholy warrsquo) but Ibecame responsible for a great deal of destruction Their tactics were to set fire toHindu villages in the southern part of Kashmir late at night I became a kind of specialist in this fearful and macabre gameof destroying nests

I was influenced by some of my friendswho were from the Khaksar Movementthe followers of Ullaham InayatullahMashraqi This man was the founder of theMuslim Brotherhood He was a very cleverperson His interpretation of Islam was thatbefore it was taken as a religion it was anarmy formation with each Muslim asoldier each mosque a fort or castle andeach Muslim colony a cantonment Hetaught that when Muslims are called - Irefer to the call from the minaret of the

mosque - it was a roll call and when theystood in rows it was to count them and theKhutba sermon given during assemblyprayer was a kind of operational addressHe produced a very fine book which Iread called Sidhasaff which means astraight line He wrote this book simply to justify his movement and his causes Hecaptivated many earnest young Muslims

I had a second-in-command in those dayswho helped me on the Kashmir border Hisname was Bashir Mujanid and he was avery disturbed person He was alwaysrestless and often didnt sleep at nightFinally I said to him Bashir whatswrong with you You always seem to beutterly miserable He said Sir I want tokill someone and then die I have no otherambition left because I have seen thecruelty of life and I have been robbed Iwas in love with a girl who was myrelative When things became very

difficult in Delhi another relative who wasmy friend gave shelter to the family of mybeloved Nasrin who had been living in acolony where there were many Hindusand they were feeling insecure He took Nasrins family to his house But then hemade advances at her and finally becauseshe had no place to go to she had tosurrender to him and became pregnant

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Then she killed herself I couldnt take thatand this is why I am like this now I havegot to kill somebody and then I will die Iloved Bashir and I grieved for him and historn nest Then one day later he waskilled on the front It was very sad

I remember another tragic incident Thiswas in mid-September 1947 when I wason the Kashmir border I called my juniorsback in the raiding sections and I was toldthat there was a Sikh ex-army man calledSher Singh They thought he was a captainwith the British Forces He was trying tomigrate over to India across the Kashmirborder But when he got quite close to theborder he thought that he would beintercepted by Muslim fanatics who wouldbe interested in taking women This Sikhgentleman ex-captain had his motheryoung wife and young daughter of aboutfourteen years only with him He felt surethat people would surround him and snatchthem from him He was carrying a servicerifle and he killed first his mother thenhis wife and then his daughter also Hewas sitting beside their dead bodies andrefused to talk to anybody My juniorswanted me to sort out this situation It wasalmost dark when I got there I called outto him Sirdar Sahib are you willing totalk to somebody He said Yes If yourintention is good I said I am yourfriend because I have never attackedanybody who is in a neutral position So

he said You are welcome to come So Iwent to him and there the three deadbodies where lying beside him I saidWhat have you been doing Sirdar Hereplied I am not here to harm anybodyBut I know these Muslims they can evenabuse dead bodies So I am waiting hereuntil there bodies start decaying Then Iam going to kill myself and that will be the

end of it all I wont be able to see mydaughter being disgraced by theseMuslims It was a horrible story I saidSirdar you shouldnt have killed thembecause I wouldnt have attacked you Youare neutral and we would have helped youto get safe into Indian territory Hereplied But you werent here and I haveseen these villagers around here doing thesame things Then I said to him So whatdo you want now He said I am notwanting anything You go but please let

me stay here I felt the pain and grief inhis face and in his voice I reckoned thatthis man was as good as dead already Sowhen I said goodbye to him I asked one of my juniors to put an end to his grief andpain One of them fired at him and I heardhim say Thank you sir Thank you youare good people Its not a very pleasantstory That was all that I could offer him

As a Muslim I still believed I was pleasingGod by causing the destruction of HindusThen one night as my juniors and I wereagain witnessing people being burned aliveand shooting those trying to escape I wassuddenly confronted by an old womanShe had just run out from a house and hada baby in her arms She saw me and shethrew the child at my feet She startedcrying saying Kill him kill this babyfirst because he is the child of a Hindu andbecause your God is pleased with killingpeople Kill him first It was a most

beautiful child I have been responsible forthe deaths of many children but when thisone was thrown at my feet I just could notmove I said Tell me mother whyshould I begin by killing him first Sherepeated Because your God is pleased bykilling people Kill him But I couldntShe went on My boy do you think thatGod is pleased when you destroy his

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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1 Friends in England

I sit alone with my thoughts and myprayers I sit in England instead of Pakistan I sit with tears instead of familycelebration and joy at this time when mydear son Obed was to be married And I sitdeprived of his presence and help as ourbread winner in the time of my retirement

He was shot by Muslim fanatics Ithappened on that fateful night of June 21990 six months ago now In one sensemy family had been prepared for thisbecause I had received threatening letters

four years previously The reality wasdevastating But it was also a time of grace Because of my poor health mydaughter assisted me on the day followingto go over to the church where the funeralservice was led by the Reverend Johnsonfrom Hyderabad I was not expected totake part but managed to get to my feetand to say I have forgiven those people

who have killed my son I am evenprepared to kiss their hands if they come tome I sent telegrams the next dayrequesting prayer and was able to write tofriends in England I have taken thisinjury in a thankful way I have sacrificedthe precious son I had in Pakistan Mywife Daisy and I are the most fortunateparents to share the cup of the sufferingsWe are now realising what it means toforgive those who give us great pain

Yes and at the same time we were allutterly shattered Our nest was torn It wasbroken In our numbness and our grief wefaced a lot of practical tasks We had toleave Sukkur I took my wife Daisy to thecomparative security of her house inSialkot After seventeen years at StSaviours Church in Sukkur I prepared tohand over my responsibilities and onOctober 1 I was retired after 30 years inthe ordained ministry in the SindhProvince of Pakistan

Daisy and I were very quickly invited bymy CMS friends to spend at least sixmonths in the safety of England and Imanaged to obtain the needed entrypermits But her grief was very deep andshe chose to remain in Sialkot awaitingour older sons return from Korea oncompletion of his theological studies Ourdaughter Khulda also remained behind inKarachi to finish the last months of herpost-graduate studies in anaesthetics Soon that day October 17 1990 I flew aloneto Heathrow Airport with no idea of whatI would be doing in England On aprevious occasion the CMS friends hadmade arrangements for me This time I feltlike a defeated general who had all hissupporting forces killed in the field I feltthat there would not be much with me tooffer to anybody but only to show my

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wounds and share some tears with thepeople of God Yet I was at peace as Ifaced this new situation

I was met by Mrs Catherine Ray and wastaken to their home in Birmingham Afterwe had gone inside I soon realised thatPastor and Mrs Ray had moved into thishouse only a few days before becausethings were lying about and needed to beput in their proper places After I wasshown around and made comfortable Ihad nothing to do but sit and watchCatherine busily mending her nest Ibecame curious as to why she was doing itall herself and finally I questioned her Sheexplained to me that labour in Britain wasvery expensive and that they could notafford to take on any workmen She wasbusy until the very last minute before thewhole family left for London and Iremained quietly on my own in their newnest It became a sign of hope to me

Where would my own new nest beSeveral suggestions had been made by thefriends who had invited me - BishopMichael Nazir Ali the Reverend Mark Oxbrow of CMS Arthur Pont and KeithWood of Interserve and others Butnothing definite had been decided I beganto get in touch with my friends in differentparts of the country and I travelled to visitthem When I returned to Birmingham Iwas told by the Reverend and Mrs Raythat in Edinburgh there was a group of young people who called themselvesldquoAsian Concernrdquo They had set themselvesto reach out with the Word of Hope to themany Indians Pakistanis and others livingin Edinburgh They had invited me to meetthem So I went up there and found alovely group of people They includedRachel Marsh and Abby McGill a realScot who I sometimes found rather

difficult to understand I also met MerilynArmstrong who had some experience of being in Pakistan for a short time I alsomet Shabash Joshi and Shameem a lovelycouple with their three fine sons newlyconverted to the Christian faith And I metBirendra Rongong from Nepal and hiswife Morag and Timbu their son andmany others I had great joy in being withpeople who had a vision longing andwillingness for the work of God Theywanted me to join them and are preparing

a house for me As yet nothing is finalisedso I have time to meet Asians inBirmingham and I have time to go onsitting quietly My tears flow again Myown loss and emptiness seem to trigger off long-ago memories of other peoplesmiseries

2 Torn to Pieces

Today as I sit here a ghastly scene hasflashed back to my mind from the time of the Second World War I had been postedto Burma and saw Rangoon bombedseveral times First the Japanese raided andbombed and then the Allied Forces tried todrive them back This was repeated and Ithink Rangoon was bombed four timesuntil practically nothing was left After theJapanese attacks we were ordered to goaround the city to see if there were anysigns of life I remember the day when Ientered a heavily bombed area I climbedup to a room after crossing brokenstaircases and went into a place whereblood was coming from under the door Itwas a shocking sight a newly wed couplein their bed both killed I saw so manyplundered nests in those days

I remember some in the red-light areas of the city just after the war I had been

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transferred to be in charge of the Staff Police and had to patrol the areas wherethere were young prostitutes from variousparts of India Chittagong and all overBengal I questioned what it was that madethem adopt such a life style instead of thesecure family home to which my orthodoxMuslim background had accustomed meThe girls overcame their fear of mesufficiently to tell me that it was hungerand the desperate need of money to feedtheir families which drove them to

prostitution In those days a large part of the Indian population went hungry withno relief in sight from the government Ifelt it was my moral duty to get food givenout from the surplus rations in our unitstores in Bengal I ended up being taken totask for being unfaithful to the Britishgovernment and charges were broughtagainst me

Then early in 1947 I was discharged fromthe Royal Air Force and I returned toJammu in Kashmir and to moredestruction It was a time of politicalturmoil with the Partition of India andPakistan and sensitivities were heightenedin Kashmir which had a Muslim majoritybut was controlled by a Hindu ruler andhis army powers I wondered what Ishould do next My desire was to pleaseGod I was led by my Muslim religiousleaders to join the freedom fighter forcesto get Kashmir liberated from the Hindus

and ceded to Pakistan I was very muchconvinced that I should help my Muslimbrothers in this Jihad (lsquoholy warrsquo) but Ibecame responsible for a great deal of destruction Their tactics were to set fire toHindu villages in the southern part of Kashmir late at night I became a kind of specialist in this fearful and macabre gameof destroying nests

I was influenced by some of my friendswho were from the Khaksar Movementthe followers of Ullaham InayatullahMashraqi This man was the founder of theMuslim Brotherhood He was a very cleverperson His interpretation of Islam was thatbefore it was taken as a religion it was anarmy formation with each Muslim asoldier each mosque a fort or castle andeach Muslim colony a cantonment Hetaught that when Muslims are called - Irefer to the call from the minaret of the

mosque - it was a roll call and when theystood in rows it was to count them and theKhutba sermon given during assemblyprayer was a kind of operational addressHe produced a very fine book which Iread called Sidhasaff which means astraight line He wrote this book simply to justify his movement and his causes Hecaptivated many earnest young Muslims

I had a second-in-command in those dayswho helped me on the Kashmir border Hisname was Bashir Mujanid and he was avery disturbed person He was alwaysrestless and often didnt sleep at nightFinally I said to him Bashir whatswrong with you You always seem to beutterly miserable He said Sir I want tokill someone and then die I have no otherambition left because I have seen thecruelty of life and I have been robbed Iwas in love with a girl who was myrelative When things became very

difficult in Delhi another relative who wasmy friend gave shelter to the family of mybeloved Nasrin who had been living in acolony where there were many Hindusand they were feeling insecure He took Nasrins family to his house But then hemade advances at her and finally becauseshe had no place to go to she had tosurrender to him and became pregnant

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Then she killed herself I couldnt take thatand this is why I am like this now I havegot to kill somebody and then I will die Iloved Bashir and I grieved for him and historn nest Then one day later he waskilled on the front It was very sad

I remember another tragic incident Thiswas in mid-September 1947 when I wason the Kashmir border I called my juniorsback in the raiding sections and I was toldthat there was a Sikh ex-army man calledSher Singh They thought he was a captainwith the British Forces He was trying tomigrate over to India across the Kashmirborder But when he got quite close to theborder he thought that he would beintercepted by Muslim fanatics who wouldbe interested in taking women This Sikhgentleman ex-captain had his motheryoung wife and young daughter of aboutfourteen years only with him He felt surethat people would surround him and snatchthem from him He was carrying a servicerifle and he killed first his mother thenhis wife and then his daughter also Hewas sitting beside their dead bodies andrefused to talk to anybody My juniorswanted me to sort out this situation It wasalmost dark when I got there I called outto him Sirdar Sahib are you willing totalk to somebody He said Yes If yourintention is good I said I am yourfriend because I have never attackedanybody who is in a neutral position So

he said You are welcome to come So Iwent to him and there the three deadbodies where lying beside him I saidWhat have you been doing Sirdar Hereplied I am not here to harm anybodyBut I know these Muslims they can evenabuse dead bodies So I am waiting hereuntil there bodies start decaying Then Iam going to kill myself and that will be the

end of it all I wont be able to see mydaughter being disgraced by theseMuslims It was a horrible story I saidSirdar you shouldnt have killed thembecause I wouldnt have attacked you Youare neutral and we would have helped youto get safe into Indian territory Hereplied But you werent here and I haveseen these villagers around here doing thesame things Then I said to him So whatdo you want now He said I am notwanting anything You go but please let

me stay here I felt the pain and grief inhis face and in his voice I reckoned thatthis man was as good as dead already Sowhen I said goodbye to him I asked one of my juniors to put an end to his grief andpain One of them fired at him and I heardhim say Thank you sir Thank you youare good people Its not a very pleasantstory That was all that I could offer him

As a Muslim I still believed I was pleasingGod by causing the destruction of HindusThen one night as my juniors and I wereagain witnessing people being burned aliveand shooting those trying to escape I wassuddenly confronted by an old womanShe had just run out from a house and hada baby in her arms She saw me and shethrew the child at my feet She startedcrying saying Kill him kill this babyfirst because he is the child of a Hindu andbecause your God is pleased with killingpeople Kill him first It was a most

beautiful child I have been responsible forthe deaths of many children but when thisone was thrown at my feet I just could notmove I said Tell me mother whyshould I begin by killing him first Sherepeated Because your God is pleased bykilling people Kill him But I couldntShe went on My boy do you think thatGod is pleased when you destroy his

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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wounds and share some tears with thepeople of God Yet I was at peace as Ifaced this new situation

I was met by Mrs Catherine Ray and wastaken to their home in Birmingham Afterwe had gone inside I soon realised thatPastor and Mrs Ray had moved into thishouse only a few days before becausethings were lying about and needed to beput in their proper places After I wasshown around and made comfortable Ihad nothing to do but sit and watchCatherine busily mending her nest Ibecame curious as to why she was doing itall herself and finally I questioned her Sheexplained to me that labour in Britain wasvery expensive and that they could notafford to take on any workmen She wasbusy until the very last minute before thewhole family left for London and Iremained quietly on my own in their newnest It became a sign of hope to me

Where would my own new nest beSeveral suggestions had been made by thefriends who had invited me - BishopMichael Nazir Ali the Reverend Mark Oxbrow of CMS Arthur Pont and KeithWood of Interserve and others Butnothing definite had been decided I beganto get in touch with my friends in differentparts of the country and I travelled to visitthem When I returned to Birmingham Iwas told by the Reverend and Mrs Raythat in Edinburgh there was a group of young people who called themselvesldquoAsian Concernrdquo They had set themselvesto reach out with the Word of Hope to themany Indians Pakistanis and others livingin Edinburgh They had invited me to meetthem So I went up there and found alovely group of people They includedRachel Marsh and Abby McGill a realScot who I sometimes found rather

difficult to understand I also met MerilynArmstrong who had some experience of being in Pakistan for a short time I alsomet Shabash Joshi and Shameem a lovelycouple with their three fine sons newlyconverted to the Christian faith And I metBirendra Rongong from Nepal and hiswife Morag and Timbu their son andmany others I had great joy in being withpeople who had a vision longing andwillingness for the work of God Theywanted me to join them and are preparing

a house for me As yet nothing is finalisedso I have time to meet Asians inBirmingham and I have time to go onsitting quietly My tears flow again Myown loss and emptiness seem to trigger off long-ago memories of other peoplesmiseries

2 Torn to Pieces

Today as I sit here a ghastly scene hasflashed back to my mind from the time of the Second World War I had been postedto Burma and saw Rangoon bombedseveral times First the Japanese raided andbombed and then the Allied Forces tried todrive them back This was repeated and Ithink Rangoon was bombed four timesuntil practically nothing was left After theJapanese attacks we were ordered to goaround the city to see if there were anysigns of life I remember the day when Ientered a heavily bombed area I climbedup to a room after crossing brokenstaircases and went into a place whereblood was coming from under the door Itwas a shocking sight a newly wed couplein their bed both killed I saw so manyplundered nests in those days

I remember some in the red-light areas of the city just after the war I had been

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transferred to be in charge of the Staff Police and had to patrol the areas wherethere were young prostitutes from variousparts of India Chittagong and all overBengal I questioned what it was that madethem adopt such a life style instead of thesecure family home to which my orthodoxMuslim background had accustomed meThe girls overcame their fear of mesufficiently to tell me that it was hungerand the desperate need of money to feedtheir families which drove them to

prostitution In those days a large part of the Indian population went hungry withno relief in sight from the government Ifelt it was my moral duty to get food givenout from the surplus rations in our unitstores in Bengal I ended up being taken totask for being unfaithful to the Britishgovernment and charges were broughtagainst me

Then early in 1947 I was discharged fromthe Royal Air Force and I returned toJammu in Kashmir and to moredestruction It was a time of politicalturmoil with the Partition of India andPakistan and sensitivities were heightenedin Kashmir which had a Muslim majoritybut was controlled by a Hindu ruler andhis army powers I wondered what Ishould do next My desire was to pleaseGod I was led by my Muslim religiousleaders to join the freedom fighter forcesto get Kashmir liberated from the Hindus

and ceded to Pakistan I was very muchconvinced that I should help my Muslimbrothers in this Jihad (lsquoholy warrsquo) but Ibecame responsible for a great deal of destruction Their tactics were to set fire toHindu villages in the southern part of Kashmir late at night I became a kind of specialist in this fearful and macabre gameof destroying nests

I was influenced by some of my friendswho were from the Khaksar Movementthe followers of Ullaham InayatullahMashraqi This man was the founder of theMuslim Brotherhood He was a very cleverperson His interpretation of Islam was thatbefore it was taken as a religion it was anarmy formation with each Muslim asoldier each mosque a fort or castle andeach Muslim colony a cantonment Hetaught that when Muslims are called - Irefer to the call from the minaret of the

mosque - it was a roll call and when theystood in rows it was to count them and theKhutba sermon given during assemblyprayer was a kind of operational addressHe produced a very fine book which Iread called Sidhasaff which means astraight line He wrote this book simply to justify his movement and his causes Hecaptivated many earnest young Muslims

I had a second-in-command in those dayswho helped me on the Kashmir border Hisname was Bashir Mujanid and he was avery disturbed person He was alwaysrestless and often didnt sleep at nightFinally I said to him Bashir whatswrong with you You always seem to beutterly miserable He said Sir I want tokill someone and then die I have no otherambition left because I have seen thecruelty of life and I have been robbed Iwas in love with a girl who was myrelative When things became very

difficult in Delhi another relative who wasmy friend gave shelter to the family of mybeloved Nasrin who had been living in acolony where there were many Hindusand they were feeling insecure He took Nasrins family to his house But then hemade advances at her and finally becauseshe had no place to go to she had tosurrender to him and became pregnant

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Then she killed herself I couldnt take thatand this is why I am like this now I havegot to kill somebody and then I will die Iloved Bashir and I grieved for him and historn nest Then one day later he waskilled on the front It was very sad

I remember another tragic incident Thiswas in mid-September 1947 when I wason the Kashmir border I called my juniorsback in the raiding sections and I was toldthat there was a Sikh ex-army man calledSher Singh They thought he was a captainwith the British Forces He was trying tomigrate over to India across the Kashmirborder But when he got quite close to theborder he thought that he would beintercepted by Muslim fanatics who wouldbe interested in taking women This Sikhgentleman ex-captain had his motheryoung wife and young daughter of aboutfourteen years only with him He felt surethat people would surround him and snatchthem from him He was carrying a servicerifle and he killed first his mother thenhis wife and then his daughter also Hewas sitting beside their dead bodies andrefused to talk to anybody My juniorswanted me to sort out this situation It wasalmost dark when I got there I called outto him Sirdar Sahib are you willing totalk to somebody He said Yes If yourintention is good I said I am yourfriend because I have never attackedanybody who is in a neutral position So

he said You are welcome to come So Iwent to him and there the three deadbodies where lying beside him I saidWhat have you been doing Sirdar Hereplied I am not here to harm anybodyBut I know these Muslims they can evenabuse dead bodies So I am waiting hereuntil there bodies start decaying Then Iam going to kill myself and that will be the

end of it all I wont be able to see mydaughter being disgraced by theseMuslims It was a horrible story I saidSirdar you shouldnt have killed thembecause I wouldnt have attacked you Youare neutral and we would have helped youto get safe into Indian territory Hereplied But you werent here and I haveseen these villagers around here doing thesame things Then I said to him So whatdo you want now He said I am notwanting anything You go but please let

me stay here I felt the pain and grief inhis face and in his voice I reckoned thatthis man was as good as dead already Sowhen I said goodbye to him I asked one of my juniors to put an end to his grief andpain One of them fired at him and I heardhim say Thank you sir Thank you youare good people Its not a very pleasantstory That was all that I could offer him

As a Muslim I still believed I was pleasingGod by causing the destruction of HindusThen one night as my juniors and I wereagain witnessing people being burned aliveand shooting those trying to escape I wassuddenly confronted by an old womanShe had just run out from a house and hada baby in her arms She saw me and shethrew the child at my feet She startedcrying saying Kill him kill this babyfirst because he is the child of a Hindu andbecause your God is pleased with killingpeople Kill him first It was a most

beautiful child I have been responsible forthe deaths of many children but when thisone was thrown at my feet I just could notmove I said Tell me mother whyshould I begin by killing him first Sherepeated Because your God is pleased bykilling people Kill him But I couldntShe went on My boy do you think thatGod is pleased when you destroy his

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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transferred to be in charge of the Staff Police and had to patrol the areas wherethere were young prostitutes from variousparts of India Chittagong and all overBengal I questioned what it was that madethem adopt such a life style instead of thesecure family home to which my orthodoxMuslim background had accustomed meThe girls overcame their fear of mesufficiently to tell me that it was hungerand the desperate need of money to feedtheir families which drove them to

prostitution In those days a large part of the Indian population went hungry withno relief in sight from the government Ifelt it was my moral duty to get food givenout from the surplus rations in our unitstores in Bengal I ended up being taken totask for being unfaithful to the Britishgovernment and charges were broughtagainst me

Then early in 1947 I was discharged fromthe Royal Air Force and I returned toJammu in Kashmir and to moredestruction It was a time of politicalturmoil with the Partition of India andPakistan and sensitivities were heightenedin Kashmir which had a Muslim majoritybut was controlled by a Hindu ruler andhis army powers I wondered what Ishould do next My desire was to pleaseGod I was led by my Muslim religiousleaders to join the freedom fighter forcesto get Kashmir liberated from the Hindus

and ceded to Pakistan I was very muchconvinced that I should help my Muslimbrothers in this Jihad (lsquoholy warrsquo) but Ibecame responsible for a great deal of destruction Their tactics were to set fire toHindu villages in the southern part of Kashmir late at night I became a kind of specialist in this fearful and macabre gameof destroying nests

I was influenced by some of my friendswho were from the Khaksar Movementthe followers of Ullaham InayatullahMashraqi This man was the founder of theMuslim Brotherhood He was a very cleverperson His interpretation of Islam was thatbefore it was taken as a religion it was anarmy formation with each Muslim asoldier each mosque a fort or castle andeach Muslim colony a cantonment Hetaught that when Muslims are called - Irefer to the call from the minaret of the

mosque - it was a roll call and when theystood in rows it was to count them and theKhutba sermon given during assemblyprayer was a kind of operational addressHe produced a very fine book which Iread called Sidhasaff which means astraight line He wrote this book simply to justify his movement and his causes Hecaptivated many earnest young Muslims

I had a second-in-command in those dayswho helped me on the Kashmir border Hisname was Bashir Mujanid and he was avery disturbed person He was alwaysrestless and often didnt sleep at nightFinally I said to him Bashir whatswrong with you You always seem to beutterly miserable He said Sir I want tokill someone and then die I have no otherambition left because I have seen thecruelty of life and I have been robbed Iwas in love with a girl who was myrelative When things became very

difficult in Delhi another relative who wasmy friend gave shelter to the family of mybeloved Nasrin who had been living in acolony where there were many Hindusand they were feeling insecure He took Nasrins family to his house But then hemade advances at her and finally becauseshe had no place to go to she had tosurrender to him and became pregnant

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Then she killed herself I couldnt take thatand this is why I am like this now I havegot to kill somebody and then I will die Iloved Bashir and I grieved for him and historn nest Then one day later he waskilled on the front It was very sad

I remember another tragic incident Thiswas in mid-September 1947 when I wason the Kashmir border I called my juniorsback in the raiding sections and I was toldthat there was a Sikh ex-army man calledSher Singh They thought he was a captainwith the British Forces He was trying tomigrate over to India across the Kashmirborder But when he got quite close to theborder he thought that he would beintercepted by Muslim fanatics who wouldbe interested in taking women This Sikhgentleman ex-captain had his motheryoung wife and young daughter of aboutfourteen years only with him He felt surethat people would surround him and snatchthem from him He was carrying a servicerifle and he killed first his mother thenhis wife and then his daughter also Hewas sitting beside their dead bodies andrefused to talk to anybody My juniorswanted me to sort out this situation It wasalmost dark when I got there I called outto him Sirdar Sahib are you willing totalk to somebody He said Yes If yourintention is good I said I am yourfriend because I have never attackedanybody who is in a neutral position So

he said You are welcome to come So Iwent to him and there the three deadbodies where lying beside him I saidWhat have you been doing Sirdar Hereplied I am not here to harm anybodyBut I know these Muslims they can evenabuse dead bodies So I am waiting hereuntil there bodies start decaying Then Iam going to kill myself and that will be the

end of it all I wont be able to see mydaughter being disgraced by theseMuslims It was a horrible story I saidSirdar you shouldnt have killed thembecause I wouldnt have attacked you Youare neutral and we would have helped youto get safe into Indian territory Hereplied But you werent here and I haveseen these villagers around here doing thesame things Then I said to him So whatdo you want now He said I am notwanting anything You go but please let

me stay here I felt the pain and grief inhis face and in his voice I reckoned thatthis man was as good as dead already Sowhen I said goodbye to him I asked one of my juniors to put an end to his grief andpain One of them fired at him and I heardhim say Thank you sir Thank you youare good people Its not a very pleasantstory That was all that I could offer him

As a Muslim I still believed I was pleasingGod by causing the destruction of HindusThen one night as my juniors and I wereagain witnessing people being burned aliveand shooting those trying to escape I wassuddenly confronted by an old womanShe had just run out from a house and hada baby in her arms She saw me and shethrew the child at my feet She startedcrying saying Kill him kill this babyfirst because he is the child of a Hindu andbecause your God is pleased with killingpeople Kill him first It was a most

beautiful child I have been responsible forthe deaths of many children but when thisone was thrown at my feet I just could notmove I said Tell me mother whyshould I begin by killing him first Sherepeated Because your God is pleased bykilling people Kill him But I couldntShe went on My boy do you think thatGod is pleased when you destroy his

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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Then she killed herself I couldnt take thatand this is why I am like this now I havegot to kill somebody and then I will die Iloved Bashir and I grieved for him and historn nest Then one day later he waskilled on the front It was very sad

I remember another tragic incident Thiswas in mid-September 1947 when I wason the Kashmir border I called my juniorsback in the raiding sections and I was toldthat there was a Sikh ex-army man calledSher Singh They thought he was a captainwith the British Forces He was trying tomigrate over to India across the Kashmirborder But when he got quite close to theborder he thought that he would beintercepted by Muslim fanatics who wouldbe interested in taking women This Sikhgentleman ex-captain had his motheryoung wife and young daughter of aboutfourteen years only with him He felt surethat people would surround him and snatchthem from him He was carrying a servicerifle and he killed first his mother thenhis wife and then his daughter also Hewas sitting beside their dead bodies andrefused to talk to anybody My juniorswanted me to sort out this situation It wasalmost dark when I got there I called outto him Sirdar Sahib are you willing totalk to somebody He said Yes If yourintention is good I said I am yourfriend because I have never attackedanybody who is in a neutral position So

he said You are welcome to come So Iwent to him and there the three deadbodies where lying beside him I saidWhat have you been doing Sirdar Hereplied I am not here to harm anybodyBut I know these Muslims they can evenabuse dead bodies So I am waiting hereuntil there bodies start decaying Then Iam going to kill myself and that will be the

end of it all I wont be able to see mydaughter being disgraced by theseMuslims It was a horrible story I saidSirdar you shouldnt have killed thembecause I wouldnt have attacked you Youare neutral and we would have helped youto get safe into Indian territory Hereplied But you werent here and I haveseen these villagers around here doing thesame things Then I said to him So whatdo you want now He said I am notwanting anything You go but please let

me stay here I felt the pain and grief inhis face and in his voice I reckoned thatthis man was as good as dead already Sowhen I said goodbye to him I asked one of my juniors to put an end to his grief andpain One of them fired at him and I heardhim say Thank you sir Thank you youare good people Its not a very pleasantstory That was all that I could offer him

As a Muslim I still believed I was pleasingGod by causing the destruction of HindusThen one night as my juniors and I wereagain witnessing people being burned aliveand shooting those trying to escape I wassuddenly confronted by an old womanShe had just run out from a house and hada baby in her arms She saw me and shethrew the child at my feet She startedcrying saying Kill him kill this babyfirst because he is the child of a Hindu andbecause your God is pleased with killingpeople Kill him first It was a most

beautiful child I have been responsible forthe deaths of many children but when thisone was thrown at my feet I just could notmove I said Tell me mother whyshould I begin by killing him first Sherepeated Because your God is pleased bykilling people Kill him But I couldntShe went on My boy do you think thatGod is pleased when you destroy his

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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supreme creation All of us are hisbeautiful creation And you are the oneswho are destroying it How can your Godbe pleased I was silent and shecontinued When children play in the wetclay they make clay dolls and sometimeshouses and wedding parties You musthave seen them making mud toys cowsbuffalos elephants If you were to break them in pieces would the children bepleased I said No that would reallyupset them Mother Then she added If a

child is hurt when he sees his creationbeing destroyed how can you think thatGod is pleased with what you are doingThat finished me and I started to cry Isaid Mother forgive me In future myhands will not be used to kill anotherperson My Muslim religious leaders ledme to do this She said Do you reallythink that God is so weak that He is askingfor your help My dear boy you aremisled and you must repent

This clinched the matter and brought me tomy senses It was not the first interventionof God in my life He had touched methrough several of His children There wasBaxter who prayed for us in the midst of aJapanese air raid and two Christian nurseswho cared for me with great love andconcern after I was wounded and lost myright eye while test flying an aircraftThere was also Philip whose love forJesus made him able to be free from local

custom and tradition in an amazing wayOn another unforgettable night in theKashmir Jihad a small Christian girlwhom we were going to kill said TheLord Jesus is here to save and protect usShe and her elderly parents were at ourmercy and we were about to destroy themI let her pray to Jesus and then suddenlythey were shielded by an unearthly wall of

fire I was terrified and completelyunnerved What an evidence of the livingGod It made me more insecure and finallyit was the little old Hindu lady whosewords penetrated and completely brokeme This was the end of my freedomfighter days Gone forever was my blindconviction that Allah willed Jihad

I left the freedom fighters and all I knewwas that I must pray to Almighty God toput me on the right path Again I wasalone for I had left my home I wassearching and praying in deep misery anddarkness and fear of death and hell Iprayed to God to reach me and put me onthe right path Then he answered I heardhim saying to me My grace is sufficientfor you My grace is sufficient for youThese words rang in my ears He forgaveall the evil I had committed I was a newperson that night of May 5 1949 I startedsinging rejoicing and praising the LordHe has led me on from there

But this was an embarrassing andoffending situation for my family Theywere landed and influential people andtheir good reputation was at stake In theireyes Islam was a noble and exaltedreligion For my part I loved them all andI owed them so much My father was aman of high ideals He was inwardly amystic and outwardly a great example as apublic spirited and positive man He wasalways kind and compassionate and gentleI know he has deeply influenced myattitudes in my future life of service But atthis time I faced the heartbreakingcontradiction of severe persecution frommy own brothers I had relatives in anumber of places Sialkot LahoreFaisalabad and elsewhere and they werepeople of influence I was sometimeschased by professional killers Finally I

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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was taken to my mother And I think thatwas the last weapon to bring me back Shesaid My dear child You know all yourbrothers are married They all have theirown homes and you are the only one left tolook after me and to share my lonelinessWhen your father died you were away onthe Burma Front and couldnt even comeand share in my grief She pleadedPlease dont leave this home Ill be withyou and support you and help you but Ibeg you not to leave Her plea stirred me

to the depths But I had to say to herMother I do love you and honour youBut to remain in this house is impossiblefor me I cannot give up my faith Pleaseforgive me for this lack of submission Iam certain that the Lord has much for meto do for Him and for His people In thisway with great sorrow and grief I had torefuse her

I also took the decision to remove a furthercause of my brothers hostility I signedaway my right of inheritance to my fathersproperty Following my mothers death Iwould be legally the owner of theproperty But the Lord had shown me thatHe alone is my heritage my refuge myall So I severed this last attachment to myfamily Because of their harassment I took the advice of one of my Christian friendsChandu Ray later Bishop of Karachi Iaccepted his invitation to come south tothe Sindh Province to work among Hindu

tribal peopleThis is how I lost my ancestral nest Thentoo I had to start building a new one in adifferent culture and with a differentlanguage I exchanged the pure air of Kashmir for life among impoverishedSindhi Gujeratis who were whollydependent upon their landlords It washard going but my heart was light My

Lord was so real to me I knew what it waslike to be loved by my Creator and to finda responsive love stirring within me Igave myself totally to living andwitnessing for my Lord I was convincedthat when God wanted to win this worldover to Him and draw humanity tohimself he had to show himself and hisconcern through Jesus Christ And JesusChrist the full manifestation of Godslove had to become like us He took theshape of total humility and become

shelterless and homeless He was a personwho owned nothing I had to be the sameand to start living with people who were atthe same stage of having nothing This hadbeen the basis of my life and ministry fromthe beginning I lived among illiterate andimpoverished labourers and I was soon tosee more of the cycle of deprivation andwant in which they were trapped

3 Nest building and education

As I look back I realise how deeply I havebeen affected by my parents emphasis ondisciplined training and education Fromthe start in 1950 I saw the hopelessnessof illiterate tribal people unable to escapefrom the injustice and oppression of theirlandlords After some time of livingamong them I saw how the Lord opened away and these people started to listen andto co-operate I took an interest in theirfamily problems and stood up for themagainst their landlords After this theirchildren started reading and writing andthen everyones confidence grew This wasa kind of pilot project and led later to thebeginnings of my boys hostel inMirpurkhas We had boys from thevillages boys from families with noresources at all I was happy to see theseboys and young men being educated first

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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going to school and then to college

All along Daisy and I have felt thatChristians living in Pakistan needed to beeducated given chances to build theirlives I have always thought that humanlyspeaking education is the key factor whichcan make Christians in Pakistan surviveAs a Christian you have to be two stepsahead of your Muslim friends This hasbeen our vision and our conviction

It was to be tested very early on When

Daisy and I were newly married andstudying at the Theological Seminary inGujranwala we were given an assignmentfor pastoral work All the other studentshad rushed to our professor and they wereassigned to some established villages withnice supporting congregations where theysimply had to help the pastor during theSunday service I came late to theprofessor and when I entered his office Isaid Is there any place left for me He

said There is but I dont think you willlike it Could you tell me what it is Iasked He told me There is oneassignment left which nobody has takenand that is to work among a communitycalled the Gugeras I dont think theypossess any religion They have somebeliefs but they are mixed they areneither Hindu nor Muslim They worshipnature and are very superstitious Theirmen go around gathering rags from therubbish dumps and their women folk goaround begging in the towns They alwayssettle near big towns where they areallotted a special area because they eatdead chickens and all sorts of otherthrown-away foods So this was thecommunity left for me to work with Isaid I will gladly do it My professorwas very surprised He said Will youWhy not If the Son of God can leave His

Fathers presence and come down to mylevel why cant I go to these people Iwent home and shared this challenge withDaisy and she said Yes we will do it

So at first I started going to thiscommunity on my own When I enteredtheir village they were welcoming but a bitsuspicious because they had never hadanybody visiting their village as I didThere were some people who used to comelooking for their beautiful girls and theirwomen But I approached their communityleaders and explained to them I am herewith the Word of God and to start with Ishall teach you how to read and write If that works we shall start doing somethingfor your children They agreedhalf-heartedly but they never expectedthat I would stay with them for any lengthof time So I started my literacy project Istarted my classes with prayer and theydidnt object to that They said It is goodwe can only be successful if we have Godwith us So that was a good start It washot and they were reluctant to offer me adrink of water or anything to eat becausethey knew that they were not expected todo that Certainly it was hard to continuewith this community because the area wassmelly and disgusting Sometimes it washard even to breath because the feathers of those dead chickens were scattered allaround their houses They gathered filthyrags and until they were washed properly

they were smelly too Next some of theirspiritual leaders started complaining andtelling them that these Christians were notpeople of good character and so theirwomen and young girls were in dangerBut because they had watched meminutely they decided that I did not havethat kind of intention

I felt that the time had come to start taking

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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Daisy along She was a great helpbecause being a nurse she could look after their sick children She advised thepregnant mothers and gave teaching onnutrition sanitation and hygiene Thismade them very grateful Then they startedreading and writing from what I had withme which was the Word of God I placedlarge-print gospels in front of them andthey eagerly read them through First oneof their leaders Manna was baptised intheir village Then I started bringing their

young school-age children especiallyboys over to my seminary primary schoolThe education committee kindly waivedtheir fees and Daisy made some schooluniforms for them They first came to ourlittle home to wash their faces and put ontheir school uniforms and then they wentto school After school they came to ourhome left their uniforms there and went totheir village in their usual clothes Thenthe United Presbyterian Mission people

agreed that it was very hard for these smallchildren to come barefoot all the way fromtheir village especially in the heat So theydecided to open a small primary school intheir village providing two teachers andtheir salaries

After these Gugeras had studied the Wordof God and understood something aboutpersonal family and community sanctitythey stopped their woman going to thetown They had ostensibly gone to beg but

in reality they went out for prostitutionThis was now changed By the grace of God a day before I was going to begraduated at the end of my theologicalstudies eight families from thiscommunity were baptised and each familyconsisted of about five to seven membersThat was a big group of newly baptisedpeople and I could see now life starting in

that village This Manna who wasilliterate before now became their teacherand was able to give them the Word of God He was a practical and respectedleader After about ten years when I wasworking in southern Sindh I once revisitedthis northern village and met my oldfriends They were thriving and joyful andI saw that the same young men who hadbeen roaming about and gathering filthyrags and rubbish had now taken good jobsSome of them had become motor

mechanics some electricians and so on Iwas especially happy to see that there wasno immorality in that community nowThey were people made new they weresaved people by the grace of God throughHis Son Jesus Christ their Saviour I thank God for that

In 1973 I was transferred to Sukkur inUpper Sindh This was in part for theeducation of my own children becauseSukkur had good schools and colleges StSaviours School was right next door to thechurch But it had been taken over by thegovernment during Mr Bhuttos time Hechanged Sunday to Friday as the nationalweekly holiday and nationalised all privateschools and colleges The educationdepartment placed a Muslim headmaster inour school who started hanging Quranicverses on the walls Next he claimed thehouse in which we lived I receivednotices without any proper justification

from the education department to handover the entire vicarage Their aim wasthat the noise of children on Sundaysduring church services would cause thecongregation to look for a quieter locationSt Saviours Church is a kind of showpieceof the town on a prime site In earlier daysunder British rule some officers were verygenerous to the church authorities

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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allocating them central sites This causedus much pressure and hassle I sometimescouldnt sleep because I was so disturbedand worried I prayed Lord you are theonly one who can come to our rescue Iwrote letters to the government authoritiesand I also kept sending telegrams andtelephone messages The day came whenthe local district magistrate received atelegraphic message from Islamabad fromthe Prime Minister himself Please dontdisturb the Reverend Naaman and dont try

to take this church property to theeducation department So that was theend of the matter The Muslim headmasterwho had kept giving us a hard time finallystopped

This leads to another story regarding StSaviours School During the time of General Zias presidency we did get theschool back but Muslim influence therecitation of the Quran and Islamicteaching where still going on Our dearfriend Mr William Khan who is nowprincipal of the school was finding it veryhard to restore our earlier system of education The parents of the students hadbecome used to this system of Quranicteaching and opposed the changes that MrKhan tried to make We are thankful to theLord who has been helping us but thereare still many things to be improved Wecan only have good educationalinstitutions in Pakistan if the church

authorities have the planning in theirhands The system of education followingnationalisation of these schools hasbecome so bad that the teachers do notwant to work When the school was givenback to the church authorities we had 33teachers at St Saviours school and we thenfound ourselves left with only threeChristian teachers One of them was Mr

William Khan who had been living on theChurch property and didnt want to go towork for the government There wasanother old teacher who didnt want to betransferred and the third Alexander Dasalso lived on the church property anddidnt want to disturb his family The restof the 33 went to the government with theexpectation of less work and more salaryThis caused us great difficulties It took along time - I think almost two years - toget good teachers from the community

because we did not have enough educatedyoung men who could replace the elderlyteachers Now by the grace of God we dohave good and qualified teachers in ourschool And improvements are continuing

Yes we struggle to improve the schoolstandards But all along it has been clear tome that school education is only one sideof the coin It is vital but Pakistan needsmore than that my country urgently needsa demonstration of Christian morality

4 The love that builds

Again I say education is not enough Itcan make people proud as the ApostlePaul said I feel very sad when I reflect onsome nests that I have known The case of a family who could have had a leading rolein the church comes to mind They lived inMirpurkhas in the southern part of Sindhwhere I was posted in the early 1960s

This family had plenty of education Thehead of the family was a retired policeofficer with no children His wifeconsidered herself to be from a high classHindu family She got converted back inIndia but this was a very strange familyThey had no respect for the church leadersThey did not often go to church Andwhenever there was a question of giving to

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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the church they did give - I think they gavemore than others did - but their attitudewas patronising and unsympathetic to saythe least I think the clergy before me didnot feel like visiting this family veryfrequently The head of the family diedafter having adopted two children fromsome orphanage But this lady couldmaintain the family because she hadproperty She could afford to haveservants She never allowed anyone to sitdown in her presence Even her neighbours

did not meet her very often because theywould not be welcome She trained herchildren to think they were superior toothers and should not mix with otherpeople When they went to school shealways sent her servant to watch over theiractivities and they were not allowed to talk to other students As the Psalmist KingDavid said in the Psalms people whofollow vanity will add to their griefs Thisis what happened to this family When

these children grew up the girl startedrunning after the boys and sleeping withthem They had nobody else to look afterthem and nobody felt sympathy towardsthem People were simply waiting for thetime when this rich old lady would get intotrouble

The boy was younger but when hebecame a little older he got hooked ondrugs and started womanising anddrinking Because he did have a little

education he could easily copy hismothers signature This boy startedwithdrawing the little money she had inthe bank and spending it on himself Thetime came when they ran out of moneyThen the property was lost because thisboy sold it and then he stole his sistersornaments and sold them for much lessthan their value He started borrowing

money from family friends and thingsreached the stage when his mother wasforced out of her house This is the story of people who had education but left Godaside

This is an extreme case where love thatcould have built them up was rejected Inmy ministry I have always wanted to buildthe nests of others Becoming a pastor isnot simply shouting from the pulpit andpreaching the bare facts of the gospel Thefull gospel is to take care of the person as awhole When you look through theScripture the Lord Jesus restored peopleto be whole and complete especially thosewho were considered to be outcast fromsociety Look at the miracle which wasperformed on a man who had leprosy Heshouted to the Lord asking for his mercyLord if you want you can make me welland whole Jesus repeated his words andsaid I want you to be healed and wholeHealing means spiritual healing whichrestores your inner being which reachesyour spirit and makes an unclean manwhole It restores him back to his societyas a person with honour and respect Thiswholeness comes by Gods Spirit througha ministry of preaching and practicalidentification

If we are not able to meet the physicalneeds of poor people and if we force ourspiritual message on them this is not theright approach You cannot preach amessage of salvation to a person who hasbeen hungry for the past two or three daysHe first needs to be given some food TheLord always did it that way When peoplecame in multitudes to him he welcomedthem then he fed them he healed theirwounds and then he preached the gospelThe tragedy with us in Pakistan has beenthat people who came to preach the gospel

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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to this continent did not understand theculture and the background of our peoplein Pakistan They came and simplypreached their message People listened tothem But throughout my Christian life Ihave concluded that the response of manyhas remained shallow Many have led alife of double standards cheating theirmissionary friends It sometimes seemedthat the missionaries were interested inmaking reports and pleasing theirsupporters in other parts of the world and

lacked insight into what was really goingon

Rock bottom repentance is the only placeto start - with a total and radically newmotivation Christian survival in Pakistanis through education giving people skillsand courage to stand on their own feetBeyond that it must be this radical andtotal turning to Jesus Christ and hissustaining love Our peoples giving of themselves and their money stems fromthis In our country our pocket is on ourleft side just over our hearts Until ourheart is touched money does not comeout But if the heart is touched and it ischanged with the love of God then moneyis not a problem

I can testify to this from my ownexperience When I came to Sukkur ourmonthly church income was very low andsometimes we were getting remindersfrom the Diocese when our assessmentdidnt reach them in time Sometime mysalary was withheld because mycongregation had not sent in their shareWe had a foreign missionary bishop whoseexpectation and style of managementsometimes resulted in my family having toface prolonged hunger Yet I found at theend of seventeen years in Sukkur afterhard labour and endurance and waiting on

the Lord that people had changed Thosewho earlier did not come to church orcame once or twice a year started comingregularly They listened to the Word of God and many committed their lives to theLord And after that they started giving tothe Lord without being shouted at from thepulpit I feel that the person who shoutsfrom the pulpit for money is anunsuccessful pastor If he has been able toreach people with the living andlife-changing message of the gospel then

he doesnt have to shout for moneyIn fact preaching does not consist incriticising It is totally different TheChristian life centres on getting involvedin the difficulties and hardships of otherssharing their burdens and drawing closerto them It is to offer the love of the Lordthrough involvement not just words Bynow I am very much convinced that thewhole work has come to a stage wherepeople have very little time or inclinationto listen to sermons or to read a lot of books Christians win the right to be heardby first reaching out to people with loveand concern Even an animal knows andresponds to love It is only we humanbeings who can be very difficult creaturesfor our Creator We easily rebel we dontlisten to him we do not surrenderourselves Only sacrificial love and carecan break through this Hardships andlabours are involved and often the

suspicions and resentments of fellowChristians have to be faced But I thank God that in Sukkur I was able gradually tosee the fruits of my hardships and the handof God in my small efforts to build nestsand to glorify his wonderful Name

I cannot tell what has been success orfailure Many nests remain only half-builtWhat I know is that my Lords work was

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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to save and heal and build lives My ownfamily had suffered and shared with me inthis ministry I shall never know howmuch I owe them for their shared support

5 Nests I remember

Building nests is building people Iremember so many examples of this Therewas the case of Ibrahim and the melonfield This was in the villages aroundMirpurkhas I was driving from Tali

railway station in a Land Rover I saw abullock cart in front of me with two orthree men in it and because it has alwaysbeen my habit not to throw up dust onpeople in slow transportation I waitedThen I saw a young man from this bullock cart coming to my Land Rover and as Iwas driving slowly he started walkingalongside I opened the window and thisman said Oh thank you sir So I saidFor what Do you remember that yougot me released from the prison I askedWho are you He said I am IbrahimThen I remembered the story from abouttwo months back I was visiting a villagenear Tali There was an old womancarrying a small baby of six months Shesat in the worship service and I was toldafterwards that she wanted to talk to meand wanted me to visit her house She wasan elderly Muslim woman about 60 yearsold I accompanied her and when I reachedher house there was an old man sitting inhis bed and folding his hands to me inrespect I realised that he was crippled so Iasked Mother why did you want me tocome over here She started cryingThere was another woman hardly twentyyears old also present in the room Themother then said to me We are tenants of Chaudri Barakat Ullah (the landlord of thatvillage) and my son Ibrahim worked for

him It seems that the landlord had amelon field and day and night he had to seta watch so that no one plucked his melonsIbrahim was out in the fields guarding hismelons One night an old Bhil labourerwalked from Tali station over to hisvillage He must have been feeling hungryHe got into the field stole a melon andstarted eating it Ibrahim was fast asleepbut the sound woke him He got up andgrabbed a big lathi (a thick stick) and hitthis man on his head Within no time this

man was dead So after daybreak this newswent around and the wife and twochildren of the man who died came cryingBut because it was not intentionally donepeople had some sympathy towardsIbrahim They came to an agreement 800rupees were paid to this widow and shewas content I mean that was a kind of ransom money It happens this way withpoor people who are not in a position todo anything for themselves So everyone

felt that was the end of the matterBut this Chaudri was a greedy man and hedidnt get on well with his neighbouringlandlords let alone with his tenants In thenext village there were people who sawthis as a good opportunity to stir up troubleagainst him So somebody reported to thepolice that there was a murder case whichhad previously not been notified The nextthing was that Ibrahim was charged withmurder I knew that according to the

existing law Ibrahim would be hanged andin a sense that would be hanging the wholefamily because Ibrahims father would notbe able to support the whole family Ireturned to Mirpurkhas with a heavy heartThat day I had my elderly uncle ChaudriAli Ahmed visiting me I shared myburden with him and he said Right Ishall find some way of helping this young

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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man So he spoke to another influentialperson Dr Siddiqui an Ahmedi - I haveseen some very good Muslims among theAhmedis - and Dr Siddiqui approached hisbrother-in-law Abdel Khair He was anArab lawyer practising in the court Hetold him the story and simply asked him toget this man released So Abdel Khairwent to the court and got all the reportsconcerning Ibrahim and then appeared inthe court when the day of his hearingcame And because there were no

eye-witnesses the case was weak and thepolice had no further interest So finallyafter a second hearing Ibrahim was setfree Then I asked him Ibrahim whenyou got released why didnt you come tome Sir I was so excited and so happythat I could not think of anything but justcoming home Your advocate friend gaveme my railway fare he fed me and he evenbought me a new set of clothes I was soexcited But today when I saw you that

was wonderful I wanted to greet you andthank you Then he started kissing myhands which are not worthy to be kissedBut I was thankful to the Lord that he wasable to use me to help out this needyperson

Then I remember the case of Fazl a verypoor and lonely man He came to me andwas given the job of looking after thecemetery and cleaning and taking care of the church I was awake in the middle of

the night and saw Fazl walking outside inthe dark I approached him and he wasvery restless I asked him Whatswrong He was very direct and open withme and simply said Padre Sahib couldyou please bring my Guddo back to meGuddo was his wife He got married manyyears back the fact is he was a very poorman and his wifes parents were a bit

mental They allowed Guddo to stay withthem and made her earn her own livingand also support them as they weregetting old and not ready to do anythingfor themselves I said Right Fazl you just pray and things will be sorted out Ihad a friend living next door who was thedeputy collector of Narowal MohammedHashim Memon His children and minewere of the same age I spoke to thisgentleman and he said All right we willdeal with this And he did He was able to

get this woman back to her husband andthen Fazl and Guddo were together againIt was great and they were a real comfortand help to my family too

Sharifa is another case I call to mind Herfather-in-law Petrus was converted froma Sikh scheduled caste the lowest of thelow and his eldest son Luka wasSharifas husband Sharifa had a baby girlbut she then got involved with anotherChristian man She ran away with himleaving her four-month old baby behindHer father-in-law Petrus came to ourhouse He threw his turban at Daisys feetin desperation and started crying Sisterplease help us Please help us Daisyreferred to me and I said Yes we shalldo something I reported the facts to oneof my police officers who was myneighbour Deputy Superintendent of Police Zakaullah He passed orders to thelocal police station and Sharifa and her

boyfriend were chased down when theywere travelling from Mirpurkhas toHyderabad They were caught on the waybrought back to the police station and shewas then asked if she would go back to herhusband But she said No you can killme here but I am not going to this managain I take this boyfriend as myhusband When I learned that things were

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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getting worse I requested Mr Zakaullah toallow Sharifa and her boyfriend to come toour house They came and after offeringthem water and tea I then asked Sharifa if she was willing to go back to her husbandShe said No I have given my statementto the police officers and have nothingelse to say I said All right I havealways kept a tonic or medicine for peoplewhose heads arent screwed on properlyTo bring her back to her senses she gotthe treatment from me in the form of a

shoe thrown at her It worked She agreedand was sent away with her husbandbecause Luka was also there with hisfather Sharifa returned to him had manymore children and after about fifteen orsixteen years I was able to get Sharifasdaughter married to a fine young man Itwas the same baby girl whom she leftbehind when she ran away So this was anest which was as it were on fire and thenrestored I am happy that I was able at

least to save Petrus dignity and respect bythe grace of God

And now I recall one more case It is thestory of a man called Hans Taj He toowas from a very depressed community inthe north of Sindh After he became aChristian he started getting his childreneducated His eldest daughter Parveenbecame a teacher and the next one alsowent to school The third one also went toschool After some time the older two got

married and the youngest was left at homeHans Taj had a very unhappy home Hiswife was mental she could not doanything for herself and did not know whatwas happening around her Hans Taj hadto go to his work at about 4 oclock in themorning and his daughter was left at homealone She was tempted by a neighbourand finally she became pregnant This was

a terrible blow to Hans Taj He called meto his home and he was in tears when I methem He said to me This girl has killedus because this community of people whoare still Hindus have been talking Theyare saying lsquoWe shall see how you stand asa Christian We shall just see how you geton since you left our communityrsquo I think this may have been part of the reason whythis girl was raped Hans Taj wasthreatening to commit suicide or to kill hisdaughter himself I considered the matter

and thought that if this man is left tocommit suicide it would kill the wholefamily If he killed his daughter he wouldbe killed under government law and thatwill be losing two people from one familyThey were actually asking me to find someway of getting her aborted But I tried tofind some other way So I got in touchwith my friends in Lower Sindh and thensent this girl to them along with her eldestsister She gave birth to a baby boy who

was then adopted by another family andafter about four months I got this girlmarried to a very fine committedChristian

I believe that building nests is buildingpeople

6 More nests and problems

Today my mind is on other incidents that Iclearly remember Nasreen was from a

more educated family and this is her storyIt goes back about 28 years

Nasreen was brought to my house inMirpurkhas in Lower Sindh She was thedaughter of a wealthy man a man withrespect and reputation But she was goingthrough a hard time with her step-brothersand step-sisters She was advised that theonly way to get support and security was

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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to go to the Christians and to become aChristianShe came first to St Theresas Hospital butthe staff there would not keep her becausethey were wary of this rich man So shewas brought to me Before long her fatherwho was concerned about his reputationstarted looking for her He came to StTheresas Hospital and they told him thathis daughter was with the ReverendNaaman I had many influential Muslimrelatives right in the same town This mandid not dare to come directly to my houseso he went to one of my cousins ChaudriNassir Ahmed a leading advocate He puthis request to him saying I hear that mydaughter Nasreen is with the ReverendNaaman but I just cannot go to himWould you please give your help because Iam deeply concerned that my daughtershould not be spoiled Chaudri NassirAhmed responded If she is with theReverend Naaman she will be safebecause he is a person whom we cantotally trust He is not going to takeadvantage of her being a single girl Thenthis father came to us frantic and in tearsHe threw his turban at my feet saying Ibeg you to give my daughter back Ibegan laughing and said She is alrightBut you must promise me that you will notpunish her Nasreen had told me that if she went back home her father would killher So I had to make him promise that he

would do nothing to punish her He didand she went back If she had not goneback to her father he would have beenaccused and would have had no morestanding in the community I see this as akind of ldquonest-savingrdquo because this manwould have committed suicide or he wouldhave killed his daughter If that hadhappened the government would have

hanged him the punishment for murder inPakistanA different case was the situation of Shameem a nurse She was a Christianthe eldest child in her family And shetrained as a nurse She then startedsupporting her family Her father becamerich through her money from the GulfShameem continued to work and nobodygave any thought to seeing if she wantedto get married She was in fact a verystrong character I got to know her throughher relatives and we became friends Shespoke openly to me about her personalproblems She said Padre Sahib you arethe first person who had shown someconcern for me She told me of her desireto have a husband and home of her ownWe prayed and I strongly urged her tomarry only a Christian She respondedYou just go on praying for me I wontbring any embarrassment to the name of the Lord Jesus There was a long delayand finally Shameem told me that she hada young man a Muslim who agreed tobecome a Christian She came from theGulf and I got her married She now has ahome with two beautiful little girls and herhusband Azher is a committed Christianbold in his total attitude and witness Sothis is the story of another nest building

A different nest was falling apart It wasthe home of a Christian widow who hadonly two children a boy and girl The girlwas in love with one of the Muslim boysfor many many years Her mother was anelderly widow and could not say anythingto her grown-up daughter her brother wastoo timid to face anybody and herrelatives did not bother People sometimessupported a situation like this because itgives them a freer hand for their ownmisdemeanors But I knew that this was

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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not right I was not prepared to have thissort of liaison going on I spoke to this girland she said Dear uncle I have been inlove with this man for the last sixteenyears Everybody knows that if I leave himthere will not be a single person in theChristian community who would marryme So what am I to do I spoke to theman and found he simply took theirrelationship for granted He said Yes Iam in love with her and I am not going toleave her So I had to be blunt with him I

said It is good that you dont want toleave her but I have to tell you that youmust end this relationship It must endbecause it is an embarrassment It is adisgrace to the Lord and it is a disgrace toHis people living in this town The girlhad already told me that she would nothave a Muslim wedding and so become aMuslim After a week the young mancame to me saying he was ready to bebaptised So I baptised him and then I

said I cant turn you into a committedChristian but one thing I want to say toyou is that you should start coming to thechurch regularly They now have a homeand the Lord has blessed them withchildren also I had to face many thingsbecause of this young man since peopleknew that it was the Reverend Naamanwho had turned him into a Christian I wassummoned by the deputy commissionerand I said I have not forced him oranybody to change his faith If you want tobe sure you can call this young man andask him why he has become a ChristianHe was called and by the grace of God hewas very bold So nobody said anythingelse to him Subsequently he had a hardtime from his department He was workingin a city bank then he was demoted to avillage branch with very few localfacilities But I thank God that both are

committed and witnessing Christians

There were many who found it toodifficult to commit themselves fully to theLord This last incident concerns what Icall a half-built nest It takes me back 30years I came to Lower Sindh to takecharge of St Johns church in Mirpurkhaswhich was a mainly tribal area with villagecongregations I was made an attorney byBishop Chandu Ray He was actually theperson who brought me form the northdown to this part of Pakistan and hetrusted and loved me When he washimself a priest-in-charge of the same areahe had bought a piece of land at SangharAt that time it was not a district but byearly 1958 had become the districtheadquarters He wanted me to check onthis plot of land So he sent me thenecessary documents When I approachedthe district revenue authorities I found thatthe plot had been taken by the governmentbecause nobody from the church side hadtaken any action So that plot had becomeincorporated into the city plans because itwas right in the middle of the town I saidthat this was not our fault and that weneeded the plot So the option given wasthat we take a larger plot outside the townand the Deputy Commissioner asked if wewere willing to have that larger plot Butthe conditions were that we had to pay forthe extra piece of land He was willing togive us the area equal to our previous plot

but the additional part would have to bepurchased at the going rate I said that weshould not be penalised that we werewilling to take this plot but would pay thesame rate at which we bought the originalplot It was they who had made a mistakein taking over our plot and they gave inSo that was the plot that we were able toobtain and we now have a beautiful

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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church and a pastors house there

During my visit to Sarghar when I metPadre Manzur Masih I could sense thatthough I was able to save this property andthe Diocese of Hyderabad was able tobuild a church and pastors house on it yetthe local congregation was not as lively asit used to be in my earlier days Peoplewere still depending on foreign aid This isnot a healthy sign for our localcongregations in Pakistan because thisleaning on others makes people crippledand they cannot grow spiritually I viewthis as a half-built nest because I believethat the local congregation should havebeen willing and eager to take care of thisproperty and to give more support to theirleader Padre Manzur He was deeplydepressed because there were not manypeople coming to church and his wifeGrace had to go out to work to support hisgrowing children and give them a goodeducation I could sympathise with themboth But God can build us afresh when wecommit ourselves to His divine care

7 White elephants and cars

I am sitting in my room again far fromPakistan and remembering the frustrationof not being able to get out to the villagesto visit and preach I needed transport andoften did not have it

There was once a rajah a ruler of somestate or other A poor man used to come tohis court and his job was to make therajah laugh Rajahs always had suchpeople in their courts - laughing was atonic which helped them live a long lifeOne day the rajah so enjoyed the poormans wit and jokes that he gave him anelephant and said Now whenever youcome to my court you must come riding on

this elephant He said All right sirThank you He bowed before him androde home And I think that for a day ortwo he did manage to feed this elephantbut it became very hard for him to feedthis huge animal So he thought to himself that if he kept this elephant hungry itwould become weak and nobody wouldbuy it So while it was still a healthyanimal he sold it He must have made hisliving on the money which he got Thetime came when he had to go to the rajahs

court and he remembered the words of this rajah that whenever he came back hemust always come riding on that elephantBut he had sold it so what should he doThese people are very clever and can comeup with a solution in no time He got holdof a rat which is the same colour as anelephant He kept that rat with him andwent to the court The rajah called him andsaid Didnt I tell you that you must comeriding that elephant which I gave you He

replied Yes I do remember The rajahsaid Where is that elephant The poorman said Its with me With you Howcan you bring that elephant right hereAnd he said Its with me Sir The rajahsaid All right show me So he releasedthe rat which had been caught and the ratran away The rajah said That couldnt bean elephant Yes sir it has the samecolour The elephant became weak because he had no grass to eat The poorman actually meant of course that it iseasy to give an elephant but it is of no useif you dont provide it with food

Something rather similar has happened tome When I became sick and had a heartattack in 1965 I was sent down to my oldplace in Sindh because it was difficult tostay up in the high altitude in QuettaWhen one of our nurse colleagues Sister

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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Hildegard Guldau went home on leaveshe spoke to her friends in Germany aboutmy ill health and the good times she hadhad with our family This resulted inGerman Catholic friends sending a brandnew Volkswagen and a refrigerator for ourfamily This car arrived at Karachi docksbut because I had no money to pay thecustoms duty Bishop Chandu Ray wasgenerous enough to provide some moneyto get this car released from customs dutyI was grateful to have a car but there was

no grass for this elephant It couldntsurvive for long While I had a littlemoney with me and was able to arrangefor its maintenance it did go and I wasable to get out to the villages But this carwas not designed for those kinds of roadsit had an engine at the back which suckedthe dust from the road so it ground to ahalt This time I received noencouragement and no help formaintenance I was told Because the

diocese has spent money on getting itreleased from customs this car belongs tothe diocese It was sold and I dont knowwho got the money that came in from thebuyer That all happened because thiselephant did not bring grass with it tosurvive on

Let me tell you another story about thesame sort of elephant Later on inmid-1986 my diocesan bishop allowed meto keep an old Suzuki Jeep which had been

used for a foreign missionary lady I lovedhaving it to get out to the villages It wasso convenient to use it for the people of God sick needy people But againbecause there was no fund to look afterand maintain this vehicle when the tyreswere worn down I asked my churchauthorities for the replacement of the tyresbut got no reply When it started

discharging smelly smoke and the engineneeded reconditioning I asked mysuperiors but again with no affirmativeresponse I did try to use a little moneyfrom my own resources and some from myparish because my parishioners were keento see the car in use I tried hard to keepthis vehicle on the road for as long as Icould but it became another whiteelephant which I had to leave behind AndI had no substitute to show to the people orto show my rajah that it had become too

small I have no personal regret but allthis has caused me deep heart searchingand sadness to see that some churchleaders who one generation ago were toopoor to own a donkey are now in aposition where they have newly importedclassy Japanese jeeps parked in front of their homes It seemed tragic to me andvery unfair that some in church authorityapparently thought nothing of usingfour-wheel drive vehicles for their

personal shopping but neglected theirpoorer brothers who laboured to serve thesame Lord and Master They denied themmedical allowances and hospital care anddenied them scholarships for their childrento get a good education

With so many hindrances anddiscouragements in my life people havesometimes asked me Was it worthleaving Islam and turning to Christ Whathave you got out of it My Muslim

relatives have asked me this Well I havesome very plain answers I have alwaystold people that the Lord has called me notto store money for myself but to become abeggar for Gods people I have beenseeking to do this all my life It wasalways very hard for me to make knownmy personal or family needs but I wasalways bold in asking my friends around

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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the world on behalf of others needsSurely this has been the style of life of Gods people Even the Apostle Paulmentioned in his letter to the PhilippiansI have robbed others and have helped youpeople The Lord has put me in thisposition - not for myself but for others Hehas given me sufficient grace to reach outfor others It is difficult for me to say thisbut over the years it has been a temptationto some of the church leaders in Pakistanto build their families with money donated

to the church But I can truly say that Ihave built others with my own resources Ihave had to become a beggar on behalf of others with nothing for my personal andfamily use It may have appeared to othersand to my own family that I have been theloser Sometimes I had to lose my respectand dignity if ever I had any But the Lordhas never forsaken us and our children Iremember when it was not in my power tosend my son Samuel abroad because I had

no resources Samuel himself had oftenbeen baffled by our poverty He used toask me Abba what have you done forus I felt numb and had no answer forthat I was not able to do anything for myfamily St John 141 says Do not letyour hearts be troubled Trust in GodTrust also in me This is what I have doneever since I came to him Then in 1986along with many other blessings from theLord it happened that arrangements weremade for Samuel to be accepted for hisMDiv in Seoul Korea which is athree-year course This made Samuelunderstand what the word of Jesus meansTrust in me also

Our daughter Khuldas admittance tomedical school was a similar tale of rejoicing for us After her initial interviewwe heard nothing for months In Pakistan

people tend to use their influence andstatus to get their children into highermedical institutions We had no resourcesexcept trust in our God Shortly before theterm started we received a letter from themedical school asking why Khulda had notresponded to an offer of a place in theschool We of course knew nothing of such an offer Perhaps a letter had got lostin the post So God opened the way forher too and has kept her there to completeher training

This is what I have got out of followingthe Lord This has been my reward I thank God that he chose me and revealed JesusChrist to me I thank him that I have hadthe privilege of following Jesus Christ

8 This was my nest

I reflect on all those nests in Pakistan andnow for the thousandth time I think aboutmy own nest My tears of grief and mythanks to God mingle together as I praisehim for my family

Our children were born to us as a directanswer to our prayers Daisy and I prayedon December 19 1959 the day before Iwas to be ordained as a priest Lord weare lonely people and we need a son tobring beauty and warmth to our homeThe Lord answered and Daisy becamepregnant Two months later we weretransferred back to Mirpurkhas where shetutored for a time at St Theresas HospitalA Muslim gynaecologist surgeon SalarAziz happened to visit the ward whereDaisy was admitted for a time before herdelivery She was knitting a baby garmentin blue wool and the surgeon understoodwhat this meant Are you sure you aregoing to have a boy he asked her Ohyes she said He asked her how she could

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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be so sure and she said Because we haveprayed for him and we have even namedthis new baby boy Samuel Naaman Thissurgeon was present when Daisydelivered and he picked up Samuel in hisarms and went round telling everybodyTheir faith is wonderful Their God iswonderful They are so sure of theirprayers

We dedicated Samuel for the Lordsservice naming him Samuel Ezra NaamanYou know naming our children has aparticular meaning Having Ezra afterSamuel meant that he will lead the peopleof God to their homeland I mean winningpeople to the Lord and leading them totheir destination

We also prayed for a daughter because wefelt our home would be incompletewithout a daughter It would lack that extratouch of grace and beauty A baby girl wasborn to us and we named her Khulda

Tabitha Her first name means she will beprophesying and taking Gods message tothe people And Tabitha means that shewill be serving the needy through hertalents sharing her share of Gods giftswith the people of God

Then we said Lord thank you Now nomore children for us But the Lord hasalways done more than we asked He saidWhy I have always done more thanpeople asked me for I am going to giveyou another son So Obed came and wasadded to the family We named him ObedNayer meaning from the family in theancestry of our Lord Jesus And Nayermeans a shining thing a star a place of light and guidance Actually Obed wasalso given another name He was born inthe mission hospital in Quetta and theEnglish nurse Julie Dawber who delivered

him gave him the nickname Pompey Hisbirthweight was ten pounds and Pompeyhe was from then on

The circumstances of his birth wereunforgettable to me We had only arrivedin Quetta in May 1963 four monthspreviously I was working as a hospitalchaplain for a Christian hospital lookedafter jointly by Dr Ronnie Holland and DrHenry Martyn Luther Daisy startedworking on the womens side teachingstudent midwives This was because weneeded more financial help to look afterour family as the cost of living in Quettawas very high especially for us who hadbeen used to living down in the lessexpensive (and much hotter) plains Ourbaby was due on September 4 but I hadreceived an invitation from my clergybrother Jalal Masih who was then atKhairpur about fifteen miles from SukkurI was due to be with him on the morningof the 5th September Daisy started labourin the morning of the 4th She was taken tohospital and I think it was not more thanthree hours before the baby was born Itwas about three oclock in the afternoonwhen I went to the hospital to see themand Daisy was awake and alert and askedme Havent you gone to Khaipur to speak at that convention I asked her How canI I have to look after Samuel andKhulda She said This is the first time Ihave had an easy labour so I think the

Lord has helped me simply to set you freeSo you please go and leave the childrenwith the Rumal Shahs Inayat RumalShah was the first Christian ministerwhom I saw after Jesus first came to meNow in Quetta I took him as my father andmy children started calling him GrandpaDaisy said Why dont you leave them atGrandpas house and tell him that it is hard

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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for you to look after them because they areso small and then you just slip away So Idid that I reached Khairpur but SeniorRumal Shah had already informed Jalalthat Naaman is not coming Jalal was veryupset because it was difficult to getanother speaker at such short notice Buthis wife Sister Khurshid kept saying tohim Dont worry He will come He istrustworthy he has always fulfilled hispromises So when I got there BrotherJalal was relieved and delighted

The theme of that convention was Oldthings have become new in the LordJesus I was able to say to thatcongregation that if they had been keepingan old god a god who was not able tochange their lives not able to make themnew persons to reach right into their heartthen they had better change him It is myhabit to speak to people from my personalexperience so I added a testimony whichcame from my eldest Muslim brotherAfter making me sit down beside him allhe could say was My dear brother we donot understand your faith and your religionbut we can clearly see that you havebecome a new man I shared thattestimony with my Christian friends TheLord worked and many lives were touchedand made new I came back happy andready to get a scolding from my childrensgrandpa Senior Rumal Shah I did get itbut that was the usual kind of thing and I

did not mind it It had been wonderful toshare my happiness with my friends downin Sindh

Two years later we were transferred back to Mirpurkhas Earlier in 1965 I hadsuffered a severe heart attack and was stillnot very strong physically We found thatthe Mirpurkhas Convent School did notaccept boys So we decided to send

Samuel and Pompey back to Quetta to aChristian hostel which was then lookedafter by Keith and Joan Mitchell Iremember when Pompey started going toConvent School When he was seven hewrote a letter to us in his broken English inwhich he said My health is fallen Whenwe read that we were deeply concernedand Daisy began to cry She said Seeyou have sent my sons away and I think this little one is not well You had bettergo post-haste to see him So I went all the

distance from Mirpurkhas to Quetta andthere I caught sight of him playing in theplayground When he saw me he rushed upto me and I said What has happened toyou Pompey He said Nothing AbbaThen I said You wrote in your letter thatyour health has fallen He said NoAbba I wrote in my letter my teeth hasfallen It was a big joke but a very costlyone because due to my ill health and mybodily weakness it was very hard for me to

travel that long distance from Mirpurkhasto Quetta I did it because Pompey wasvery dear to me

A little later I was told to call my childrenback to Mirpurkhas because the hostel wasgoing to be closed At this time I was farfrom well I had to have an operation formy bad right kidney to be removed I hadconstant pain and I became addicted tosome of the pain-killing drugs I was notfit to go out to the villages and I was left

with only one kidney which after a monthhad also started bothering me So it wasdecided that we should go to a place wherethere were adequate hospital facilitiesnearby My childrens education was also afactor We were transferred to Sukkur inthe north of Sindh Province in July 1973

Education in Pakistan was very expensiveso Daisy had to go to work She took the

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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post of sister tutor in the Civil Hospital Iwas sick and had to be hospitalised manytimes And I needed more pain-killingdrugs which were very expensive It washard to cope with Sometimes we had tosell some of our household things just tobe able to pay our childrens school feesBut we were able to give them a goodeducation When Samuel passed his BA hewas given work with Campus Crusade fora time and he was able to finance his sisterto continue her medical studies During

those last years in Sukkur Daisy lost her job in the Civil Hospital but wasimmediately offered a position in a privatehospital When this was also terminatedthe way was opened for an invitation fromthe Bishop appointing Daisy to the job of organising womens prayer groupsthroughout the Diocese For several yearsshe travelled the length and breadth of Sindh reaching the remote areas of theDiocese to form small prayer groups in the

congregations We need to build familiesin the faith to have an altar in the familywhere parents pray with their childrenbefore they go out to face the Islamicworld around them There they have Islambeing injected into them all the timethrough academic teaching and through themedia Daisys ministry among the womenhas been fruitful and we praise God

The Lord has also used my writing whichhe led me to begin in Mirpurkhas after my

first heart attack In Sukkur I was able topublish my testimony As funds becameavailable other books followed a novel onthe life of a young Christian nurse then abook on the Ten Commandments entitledA Code of Love Another was TheMysteries of the Christian Life a book onChristian ethics Others have followedincluding several radio plays which were

put on at Christmas and Easter

At the beginning of 1990 the fortiethanniversary of my Christian pilgrimageour familys ministry in Sukkur wasdrawing to its close

9 This was my Son

Our dear son Pompey our younger sonbecame a great tower of strength to usduring those later years in Sukkur Hehimself acknowledged that during histeenage years he messed around andwasted his time Because his mother wasobliged to work away from home and Iwas often sick it was more difficult forhim But due to his brothers prayers andpromptings all at once he realised that hewas wasting his time and he started towork hard He passed his ldquoIntersrdquo atcollege and then his Bachelor of ScienceAfter that he was taken by the PakistanRailways as a senior audit officer Hecompleted his Masters in economics andBachelor of Law and then finally hisMasters in International Relations Hegrew to be a fine handsome young man agood athlete and gifted hockey and squashplayer and he had a great sense of humour He could go on telling jokes allday without boring you

His maturing coincided with his decisionto turn to Jesus Christ This happened inearly 1985 The background andatmosphere of the home led Pompey tostart witnessing at once As he realised theimplications of his faith he becameincreasingly aware of the Lords standardsof care and behaviour He developed adeep concern for his own personalmorality and also for family andcommunity morality and purity

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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He really cared about individuals in thecommunity I remember a night when hetook me out to visit some of myparishioners and to share their burdens Henoticed an old Muslim man sitting andselling bread and eggs It was very coldand getting late at night After our pastoralvisit Obed asked me if I would buy thewhole lot of eggs There were I thinksome three dozen and a few loaves of bread But why this much I asked himHe said Abba if you dont buy from this

man he will be sitting here until midnightand it is ever so cold here Lets set himfree to go home and rest in his warm bedThis touched me very deeply as I saw howmuch love my son had for others

He began to take a strong stand againstsexual compromise in the community Hecould not tolerate it It has become anormal thing in Pakistan for our Christiangirls to get married to Muslims sometimesbecoming their third or fourth wife andstill proclaiming themselves to beChristian Sometimes they come to churchalong with their kids and along with theirMuslim husbands In my congregationeven if I was a little accommodating andnot very blunt towards these people if Pompey was there he would go and takethem by the arm and send them out Hesaid to them quite plainly This place isnot for you God is not to be fooled Thisis the place for his children not for people

who have dishonoured and disgracedGod I thank God that he was sooutspoken His confrontation with themdid some good to my Protestantcommunity We had hardly any incidentsof this sort but we saw many girls goingastray from other Christian communities

With Muslim families having so manywives so many mothers for the children it

becomes very hard to draw a line betweenimmorality and morality When sons seetheir fathers keeping several wives there isnothing unnatural in young men from suchfamilies running after women But this sonof mine never drank and never went aftergirls It is nothing to boast about but Ithink it was the solid Christian teachingabout personal and family sanctity whichhe got from the Word of God and from hisfamily Christian atmosphere Pompey wasable to save many families Many young

girls and many young boys came to theLord through his effective testimony I hada Muslim friend a religious leader - a Pir -whose sons were friendly with my sonSometimes they drank in front of theirfather but my son never did One day thisleader came to me Naaman you haveraised a very strange kind of son thisyoung man Obed I said You arereferring to Pompey He said Yes hedoesnt drink when his friends are

drinking So I said I havent stoppedhim It is his personal decision and I think it is good You people take it for grantedthat this drinking is allowed for theChristians but this is not so Financially itis destroying and Scripturally it isforbidden It is good that he doesnt drinkThat was the testimony that came from myMuslim friends

When Pompey was employed by therailways he got his visiting card printed

and it included the words My grace issufficient for you Those were the wordsthe Lord Jesus spoke to me when he calledme and that has been the theme of my lifeSo when Pompey handed this visiting cardto his Muslim friends they of course askedObed what is this for What does itmean Then there was a chance for himto share the message of the Lord Jesus He

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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was a bold witness for the Lord I have toadmit that my son Pompey was able to domore evangelistic work within five yearsthan I did during the 40 years of myChristian pilgrimage It was fantasticwonderful I am so thankful to the Lordthat he gave me such a witnessing son Hewas taller than I am and as I got older Ialways loved to see him standing besideme he became my strength and myconfidence When his brother Samuel leftfor his studies in Korea and Khulda went

to her medical college he remained athome with us It was a blessing to havehim with us because he provided comfortto us confidence to the community andwitness to his Muslin friends His friendswere very varied and he reached out tothem fearlessly with the Gospel

One particular incident highlights his zealWhen he was visiting his brother in Koreain 1988 he tried to join a Koreanevangelistic team to reach the athletes whocame to this part of the world during theOlympic Games He did reach people frommany countries with the message of theGospel He met a Korean who claimed tobe a second Messiah Pompey was veryblunt and forthright with him He saidYou man if you were in Pakistan I wouldhave killed you because you are notworthy to be alive You are misleadingpeople You are the devils agent Andthat man had to run away saying Look at

this foreigner talking to me like that He isnot frightened of anything Pompey hadsaid to him I cannot stand this nonsenseYou go away You get lost I dont want tosee you because there is one Messiah whodied on the cross and who is coming againto judge the living and the dead How canyou claim yourself to be Messiah Thatreally touched me and I thank God that

Pompey had such a strong faith andfearless attitude towards people who wereto be rebuked He did rebuke I thank Godfor that also

Living at home with his parents with hisolder brother in Korea and his sister incollege I realised that he was facing anincreasing loneliness Back in 1987 he andhis sister Khulda came to me smilingWhats up I asked them They told methat Khulda had been a bridesmaid inKarachi at the wedding of a Christianfriend and there they had met a humbleand deeply committed Christian girlnamed Eileen Faiz They said to meAbba would you go to this family on ourbehalf and ask if they would agree for theirdaughter to be engaged to Pompey Igave that some thought and then I saidMy dear ones its never easy for me toask a favour from anyone But if you aresure that this is right then we could goThey said Yes we have sensed that thisgirl will be an excellent match forPompey So I spoke to Eileens fatherBrother Earnest Faiz could I come andmeet you He replied Certainly youwill be most welcome So I arranged mytravel down to Karachi and when I gotthere the father and this girl who wasnicknamed Pinky were both at the stationI was taken to their house Pinkys motherSister Enid was also very happy to see mebecause we had something in common

Brother Earnest Faiz comes from thenorth His uncle was the first archdeaconof the Church of England in that areaArchdeacon Barakat Ullah and BrotherEarnests father was Faiz Ullah SisterEnid comes from a family which wasoriginally from my village Hergrandfather Dr ID Shabbaz was frommy village and became a Christian then a

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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well-known scholar He translated thePsalms from Hebrew into Urdu then intoPunjabi poetry and then he put beautifultunes and rhythms to the poetry which arestill being sung by Punjabis everywhereSo it was lovely to see them again

I was very much moved because I havealways found it extremely difficult to ask any personal favour The tears came to myeyes Brother Earnest Faiz took me in hisarms and said Brother whyever are youso upset Tell me what you want I saidNothing is wrong It is just that I wantPinky for my son Pompey Then he saidAnd that is why you are crying Ireplied I find it so difficult becausemaking requests doesnt come naturally tome Then he simply said She is yourdaughter There is absolutely no problemBe assured that we are happy We love youand we honour you greatly and you aremost welcome From today Pinky belongsto your family That was wonderful I wasvery much touched by their attitude andtheir welcoming love From that day Pinkystarted calling me ldquoAbbardquo which wassomething very special She wasnt doingit out of duty I could tell that she wascalling me ldquoFatherrdquo from her heart

In the December of 1988 after ChristmasPompey and Pinky were engaged up inRaiwind because by that time BrotherFaiz and Sister Enid had moved up toRaiwind and had built their new houseWe had an engagement ceremony therewhich was conducted by my brothers andalso by Bishop Sammy Ezaraiahrepresenting the Church of Pakistan andmy dear brother Farman Masih whorepresented the Salvation Army We had alovely gathering with these leadingpersonalities from different churches Wecame back happy but Pompey said to me

Abba if I had known that I was going tomiss my older brother Samuel so muchbecause he is still out in Korea I wouldnot have agreed to get myself engaged Ireally miss my elder brother

After that the wedding date was fixed forNovember 15 1990 Samuel would thenbe home from Korea In the meantimethings were being purchased made andstored And it was lovely to watch PinkyShe was preparing herself for a glorioustime when she would be able to start hermarried life and would also be closer togive love concern and service to her dearold Abba We were happy

But that time never came As well assharing joy we also lived with fears andapprehensions which we constantlybrought to God In 1985 there had been athreatening event In the time of unrestwhen the Kaaba was raided in Mecca andImam Khomeini accused the Americans

our church was attacked by a mob Obedwas at home he called me and we stood inthe doorway My son shouted As long aswe are alive nobody can harm this houseof God We are humble servants of Godand will not allow anyone to damage thisbuilding He stood there armed with aweapon in his hands and then the peopleturned away and dispersed

Before leaving for Korea Samuel wasemployed by Campus Crusade andarranged a Christian literature distributioncampaign in Sukkur with the help of Obedand some local Christians Posters wereput up all over the town and for a wholeweek Sukkur seemed to be talking of nothing but the Christian faith Both of mysons also went out with the OM team boysdistributing Christian books Followingthis I was taken to the police many times

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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The police chief had been approached by37 Muslim religious leaders with thedemand that these Christians should bestopped from these activities When I wascalled I had an opportunity to speak tothese religious leaders and I said Dearfriends why are you frightened If thisreligion I mean this Islam is from Godthen why dont you allow God to protectit Why are you so opposed and sohostile Let God protect it If there is areligion which has to be protected by

people either it is not God-given or thereligion itself has nothing to offer Its likea clay doll which has to be kept delicatelyin case it breaks We now listen to Islamall day long It has become compulsoryand our children study it in the schools andcolleges on the radio in the newspapersand in textbooks of Islam we are beinginjected with it But we have neveragitated and we do not feel thatChristianity is endangered Yet when we

are out for evangelism to reach peoplewith the message of hope you startagitating and come out with a rain of stones What is this Please stop itbecause you are disgracing God Theydidnt care for this Indeed this made themvery angry

In 1986 I started getting threatening lettersin the post The following is a translationof one

Padre Naaman SahibGreetings I give you notice that your way of lifewill take you to the mouth of death Therefore Igive you this last warning - change your way of life Padre Sahib your daughter is always underour mens control and your behaviour may costher her life Therefore I give you a last warningbe a man Otherwise you will lose yourdaughter and son Your son is always in front of our rifle You cannot hide him anywhere or savehim from us If your life and your childrens

lives are dear to you take 50000 rupees withyou to the Rohri cement factory - on the corner -on the 30th Arrive 6 pm We have a blue videoof your daughter which you may not knowabout I tell you again Padre Sahib save yourchildren It is a small price to pay to save yourchildrens lives If you try to trick us theconsequences will be very bad Our people arewatching your house and if you make onemistake we will destroy your whole family Wehave put a small price on your children and bluevideo and we hope you will meet all ourdemands If you inform the police then the deadbody of one of your children will be delivered to

your house You entered your daughter atNawabshah Hospital and made our task easier If you hide them in any corner of the world youcannot save them Thats it Goodbye

30th January 6 pm Dont forget We will waitfor you If you dont come you are insulting usand we will take revenge for this insult

From your friend

At that time God clearly led us to trust himfor the safety of our family We agreed tothis I did not have the money althoughthere would have been no problem inasking my friends to help me I waspersonally convinced that paying thisransom would be surrendering to thepowers of evil which I felt was not aChristian act But I did go at 6 pm to thatplace which was mentioned in thisthreatening letter I went just to see if therewas anybody around that I could have atalk with But there was practicallynobody I did not go with the police I didnot go with a weapon or anything of thatsort I went and if I had met somebody Iwanted to make an arrangement not to paymoney but to explain to those people thatthis was not right We were not injuringanybody We were fully within our rightsBut there was nobody After that threemore years passed

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

TORN NEST

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

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four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

TORN NEST

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842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

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loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

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before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

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10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

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In May 1990 I again suffered pain frommy kidney stones and had to go to Karachifor treatment Khulda interrupted her work to accompany me back to Sukkur Duringthis month political strife and violence wasbreaking out in Sindh It became unsafe totravel On the night of June 2 Khulda wasstill with us - the four of us were in thehouse It was 1025 pm and Obed steppedout of the churchyard to inform Khuldasdepartment in Karachi that she would notbe on duty on June 3rd He was on his way

to the Post and Communications OfficeSuddenly we heard the sound of gunfireKhulda and I ran outside into the yardSomeone banged on the gate shouting outPlease uncle open the door Obed isshot We rushed to him He was flat inthe road bleeding bathed in his ownblood I felt his pulse He was no more inthe world After I kissed his forehead andheard Khuldas screams I lostconsciousness

News of Pompeys death reached hisfiancees home very quickly They caughta train down to Sukkur and were present atthe funeral Pinky was in great shockAbba where is my Pompey Where is myPompey she asked me with tragic eyes Iwas dumb and my heart still aches for herOn November 15th she would have beenmarried to Obed All of us were simplywaiting for Samuel to return from Korea

So we have given to the Lord what he gaveus a lovely gift in the shape of Obed Weare thankful to the Lord for the 26 years hewas with us We are thankful for thefragrant memories which he has leftbehind At the funeral I saw people fromthe town crying uncontrollably I realisedhow greatly he was loved not only byfellow Christians but by Muslim friendsas well Among the stream of condolence

letters which started to arrive this is onefrom my cousin Chaudri Nassir Ahmedadvocate in Mirpurkhas

Dear Brother Naaman

I have read the shocking news about the suddenand untimely death of your son at the hands of terrorists Both I and my wife share yourbereavement Words are but a poor consolationto describe your grief Your son verily has diedin the cause of humanity He has died that othersmay live It is indeed the death of a martyr Wepray that God may give you will and strength to

bear the loss with perseverance Let us pray thatthe soul of the deceased may rest in eternalpeace in the heavens Amen Please accept ourcondolences both mine and my wifes on thesad demise of your beloved son

I remain yours sincerely

NA Chaudri

Many letters prayers and tokens of practical help supported us in our griefMy son Samuel was still in Korea but sent

me a copy of Obeds written testimonywhich forms the postscript to this bookletI myself found comfort I think it wasMonday June 4 after having buried myson at Sukkur the previous day when Iwas having my own meditation the Wordof God came to me I will never forsakeyou I will never leave you I will take careof you This was sufficient for me Hedoes not leave me He is going to look after me He is going to take care of meand my family Yes I have even thankedhim for bringing this bitterness to meThere are many people - perhaps themajority of people in the Christian world -who ask for blessing and prosperity forrelease and relief from their pains Butthere are very few available to the Lordwho share his sufferings because he needssomeone to share in his cup of bitternessthe cup of his sufferings I thank him that

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842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

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he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

TORN NEST

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842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

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and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

TORN NEST

3034All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3134

four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

TORN NEST

3134All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3234

loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

TORN NEST

3234All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 29: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 2934

he has found me fit enough to be able toshare his sorrows And I leave this openinvitation before the people of God to ask him to enable you and others to share hissufferings He needs this Jesus of Nazareth Son of Mary is lonely He needsto be loved He has become our friend andis looking for friends He has visited usand is still waiting for people who willshow their love and desire to be closer tohim He will never leave you alone just ashe has not left me alone

10 So take heed how you build

This booklet of my grief has no immediateending I do not know how long I mayremain in my new nest in Scotland Itdepends on London Home Officepermission it depends on finance and itdepends on my family Khulda still has tocomplete her anaesthesiology exams inKarachi and Samuel will be proceedingthe USA for some time to do further studyand to witness for his Lord

Daisy who has suffered so many thingsand stood by me for so long remains faraway in Pakistan She was always veryclose to her younger son In the past shehas had indomitable courage she hassuffered with me through severe trials andhas been able to accept all the hardshipsand deprivations As a person she is verystrong and she has been much respected

as a professional woman and as a spiritualguide It must be that because she was sodeeply attached to her younger son hisloss has proved insurmountable for thetime being I have to face the fact that sheblames me for his loss She still says If only you had paid that sum of 50000rupees Obed would still be with is If only If only we had taken our son

away If only we had gone to thathospital If only we had hired thatadvocate If only we had doneso-and-so In this way she holds on tohim in her sorrows and cannot yetrelinquish him to God It is sounderstandable and at the same time it isso painful and disturbing to go on livingwith this rift this gulf between us

It takes time to see things come into aproper order But the Lord is there As forme he goes on comforting me He hastaken care of me all these years A fewnights ago he brought me enormouscomfort I had a dream and in this dreamObed came to me He said to me Abbadont worry Im alive I am helping you Iam serving you I am still with you Dontworry I feel as though he is still nearbyLet me tell you what happened soonafterwards On December 18 in theevening I travelled to Nottingham to meetSilas Samuel who is studying theology atSt Johns College When I arrived this boymissed me at the coach station I was leftthere just like an unwanted baby I didntknow what to do or where to go So just tofind something to do while waiting for thisyoung man Silas I went to the bookingoffice of the National Express and found ayoung man sitting there I asked him tobook my onward journey to Salisbury andthis young boy started looking into myface He said You seem to be a stranger

Yes I am I replied Then he saidWhere are you going now I told him Iwas being met and that I did not know thedetails of the place where I had to go Hetook from me the small piece of paper onwhich was written Silas telephonenumber He phoned and a lady at St JohnsCollege answered Then this young boysaid to her that he would put me on the bus

TORN NEST

2934All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3034

and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

TORN NEST

3034All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3134

four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

TORN NEST

3134All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3234

loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

TORN NEST

3234All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 30: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3034

and would somebody please meet me atthe bus stop This boy did that It was veryunusual I find that British people oftendont like getting involved in othersaffairs But this young man wasextraordinary He put me on the bus andthere was Sylvia waiting at the bus stop inthat cold weather and she took me toSilas house and there was Neela Silaswife waiting at the door holding her sixweeks old baby It was all so easy I feltthat this was a spiritual and divine

arrangement somebody helping me toreach my destination without confusionand difficulties I can believe that thepeople of God dont die but are at least fora time somewhere near serving andhelping their dear ones The physicalseparation is there and the wound of grief is there But for my part I have acceptedthis blow in a thankful way The Lordallowed Obed to be with us for 26 yearsand the sweet memories which he has left

behind will keep him alive I am sothankful to the Lord that he gave me sucha dear son who showed what a blamelessChristian life is like I am proud of himand I am thankful to the Lord for givingme three happy and really committedChristian children I thank God that I stillhave Samuel and Khulda whose love andencouragement mean so much to me

The dear friends in Asian Concern inEdinburgh have already been a comfort to

me I am ready to make my nest amongthem and to witness to my Lord in thatplace My life all these 40 years has beenwitnessing to him From my son Obedsexample I am filled with the determinedwish to give a clear-cut testimony InPakistan I understood from the beginningthat the message is clear-cut It does notbeat around the bush The message of the

cross is an offence It is not veryacceptable to people The Lord Jesushimself was firm and decisive He wasloving and caring towards the needy buttotally direct and outspoken to those whoopposed him

Both here in Birmingham and on myrecent visit to Scotland I have foundpeople with vision and willingness to work for God But I have become aware thatthey feel very frightened of Islamicaggression Some of them take an indirectslow approach and they are very carefulnot to hurt or offend anybody Instead of approaching people directly with the Wordof God they try to create friendship andfellowship But in many cases our Muslimfriends and people from Asia take theirhospitality and friendship as a sign of theirweaknesses They feel these westernpeople have nothing to offer exceptcompromise Surely this is very wrongWe Christian should realise that if wedont want to offend anybody we are notgoing to reach these people The messageof the cross does offend As St Paul wroteit calls us to become like fools and likemad people rather than very thoughtfuland compromising

I am aware that there are many scholarsand highly literate people in this countrywho are authorities in Islamic researchBut I have been a Muslim myself and thena Christian for many years facing Islamicopposition in Pakistan I have to say thatthe Islam which I know has little to offerbut aggression violence and lust Itdisturbs the nest very frequently From thehistory of Islam we know that polygamywas practised from the beginning TheParadise which is introduced by Islam isnothing but lust Even in this life if you arewealthy enough you have the right to keep

TORN NEST

3034All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3134

four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

TORN NEST

3134All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3234

loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

TORN NEST

3234All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 31: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3134

four wives If you feel like changing youcan change them at any time In Islamwomen have a very low position with noright to rebel or even to agitate They arethe victims of a male or males I haveoften observed how many evils are theoutcome of polygamy I have seen wivesand offspring oppose each other

An instance comes to my mind of a friendof mine who had married two women andthen found another wife who would goalong with him and attend parties andbecome a social highlight He had adaughter and a son by his last marriageWhen I visited them I heard the mothersaying to her son her only son Be carefulof your step-brothers they are up tosomething They are going to kill you justto deprive me of the whole property of your father Later I came to know that shespent about 37000 rupees on buying anice dependable Russian rifle for her sonThat was a mother who should have beeninjecting love patience concern andendurance into her childs mind Insteadshe was giving him hatred and insecurity Icould tell you of many other examples

On the national and international scale it isthe same Islam has given very little to thisworld except disturbance fights divisionsWe have seen this with our own eyes inthe events in the Islamic world In thehostility between Iran and Iraq dozens of valuable army generals have been shotcountless people have lost their lives andit still goes on World powers makeattempts to bring peace but there cannotbe peace as long as Islam is there I knowthat there is only one Prince of Peace andhis name is Jesus Christ who died andafter his death became victorious He isvictorious because he was humble henever used violence he never paid his

enemies back as they deserved What weChristians believe is that the greatness of God is shown in his humility Jesus Christhimself was totally submissive to hisFather In the world greatness is shownthrough power and aggression but itbrings no lasting good Thank God thatthere are people in this world who havesurrendered before God who havecommitted themselves to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ His way was notthrough might and sword but through his

submission through his sacrifice hisblood which was shed on the cross andthrough his loving attitude as he prayedfrom the cross Father forgive them forthey do not know what they are doing(Luke 2334) The Lord Jesus did knowthe ignorance of human beings and he stillknows that the majority of people in thisworld are ignorant of what they are doingHe still forgives all those who do wrongsand if they surrender themselves before

him he makes them new creatures just ashe made me new What I have sufferedwas only possible because I know theLord I know him and he knows me and hegives me sufficient strength and grace toovercome all these problems Job saidWhen I am tested I shall become likegold (Job 2310) Only through tests andsufferings trials and temptation are weable to become like gold we becomeprecious in his eyes So I thank the Lordfor all he has allowed me to go throughHis name is to be proclaimed with totalboldness from a life committed to him

I cannot close without asking you to keeppraying for us It takes time to see thewounds healed But I have faith that if youcome out with the balm of praise this willhelp in getting our inner wounds healed Ithank our many friends in Britain for their

TORN NEST

3134All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3234

loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

TORN NEST

3234All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 32: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3234

loving support and their prayers andencouragement and their hospitality Mythanks go to my friends Jock and GwendyAnderson They have typed and put thisbooklet into shape and I am deeplygrateful to them I knew them 30 yearsago and now I see them physically limitedbut with inner peace and strength

The other day in Birmingham I observedsome birds nests at the very top of acluster of trees They reminded me of some words from the poet Iqbal when hetalked about eagles

An eagle you are and your place is up high

High where no evil can touch you

Inner peace and strength is given to usNothing can touch or take away the peacethat the Lord has given The Lord JesusChrist said I give you my peace peacethat this world cannot give (John 1427)The world cannot steal that peace awayEven the plundering and tearing up of thenest is not able to remove Gods peaceBecause we are followers of Jesus ChristWe know that we have another nest notmade with hands (II Cor 51) To theextent that we can live in the love andpower of Jesus Christ the human pain islessened Heavenly love is there evenwhile we may groan down here So ourpain is lessened made one with hissuffering and finally death will beswallowed up by life

11 Obeds testimony in his ownwords

I was born in a Christian family where myfather is a convert from Islam I am thethird (youngest) child having one olderbrother and a sister before me

From my childhood we were attached toSunday Schools and we had familyworship and very regular church goingThough I was attending all this I simplywent like any other nominal Christian whodid not understand at all what was taughtin Sunday School and preached in churchFrom my teenage years I was very friendlywith non-Christian boys who were reallynot good friends and of no help to me inmy practical and spiritual life Mybehaviour towards children around me was

harsh fighting beating abusing andlooking down on them Many complaintsused to come to my home about my badattitude towards other children Every timeI was told to try to be polite to others Itook no notice of this advice and aftersome time was the same again

Many years passed like that until I finishedmy high school and entered collegeBecause my elder brother used to help myfather and other people in the church Iused to join them but not from my heartYet I used to admire the humble andhelpful life lived for others which was mybrothers attitude One day I went to ayouth convention along with my brotherwho really forced me to come Accordingto my culture I could not refuse anddisobey him In this convention I heard amessage from a preacher from the Bible IIKings 79 where it was written about thelepers and about spreading the good news

of freedom I thought to myself that Imyself am still bound in the slavery of sins so how can I give good news toothers Due to the constant prayers for meand the deep interest of my elder brother inme these words stuck in my brain andheart I think this was Gods time for me Iconfessed all my sins to Jesus Christ mycrucified Saviour and placed my past life

TORN NEST

3234All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 33: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3334

before him I asked him to make me cleanby his blood and give me the gift of theHoly Spirit so that in future I may be hisand serve him all my days I felt as if agreat burden was taken off me and I wasoverjoyed I was praising God andthanking him for the free gift of salvationthrough his grace

Then God gave me courage and wisdomthrough the Holy Spirit and I startedwitnessing to Jesus as the only Saviour tomy friends in the college and around me

After passing my Bachelor Degree (BSc) I joined the Government Department of Pakistan Railways as Senior Auditor Inthis office there are a lot of chances towitness to the Muslims about our SaviourEven during my job I joined the nightcollege to do my Masters degree inEconomics (MA Econ) and aftercompleting that I did another degree inLaw (LLB) and presently I am about to

complete my second Masters Degree inInternational Relations (MA IR)

In my study time and job I hadencouragement and more chances to meetdifferent highly educated people and towitness to Jesus Christ Besides all this Iam feeling that I lack the deep knowledgeof the Word of God I am praying that Godmay grant me a chance to learn more abouthis Word so that I may be able to tellpeople more clearly and with spiritualwisdom about Jesus I feel deeplyconvinced that God wants me to be fullyand strongly equipped with his Word andto spend my future life according to Godsplans where he wants and whatever hewants I have a great burden not only formy own country but for the entire worldwhich is disturbed and lacking in salvationand peace which is only in Jesus Christ

who is the Way and the Truth and the LifeI am much in prayer and seeking Godswill for me nowadays

May God bless you

yours in Christ

Obed Nayer Naaman

12 Quiz

Dear Reader if you have read this book

you will be able to answer the followingquestions1 Which event tore the nest of the

Naaman family How did it happen2 How did the friends of the Naaman

family respond3 Describe two of the incidents which

led Brother Naaman to believe inChrist and to change his life

4 How did brother Naamans familyrespond to his conversion toChristianity

5 Describe Brother Naamans pastoralwork assignment during his trainingHow did he go about building arelationship with the Gugeras

6 What was Brother Naamans strategyin dealing with the challenges he facedat St Saviours Church in Sukkur

7 What two aspects of service areincluded in the ministry of the ldquofullgospelrdquo How did Brother Naamanpractice both of them

8 Describe one of the incidents thatBrother Naaman was involved inbecause of his deep sense of justice

9 What do the incidents of ldquonest-savingrdquoshow us about Brother Naamansreputation among the Muslims

TORN NEST

3334All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

httpwwwthe-good-waycom

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010

Page 34: Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

842019 Torn Nest - By Ghulam Masih Naaman

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulltorn-nest-by-ghulam-masih-naaman 3434

10 What did the local Pakistani

congregations do which kept themfrom growing spiritually as they mighthave otherwise

11 What lesson does the story of theelephant which the rajah gave to thepoor man teach us

12 How would you react if you weregiven and ldquoelephantrdquo like BrotherNaamans

13 What testimony does Brother Naamangive despite the difficult circumstanceshis family had to go throughsometimes

14 How did Daisy use the birth of theirfirst son Samuel as an opportunity towitness to their faith in Jesus

15 What was the ldquomessagerdquo BrotherNaamans brother got aboutChristianity from Brother Naamanslife

16 How did Obeds faith in Jesus affecthis life

17 How did Obed use his social behaviourand his profession as an opportunity towitness to his faith

18 How did brother Naaman react to thedeath threat against his family

19 What is Brother Naamans attitudetoward the suffering he has had toendure because of his sons death

20 What is Brother Naamans opinion of

the non-confrontational attitude of many western Christians towardIslam

You can copy and paste the questions intothe contact form and can write the answerbelow each question

Please use our Email-Form to contact usor write to

The Good Way

PO BOX 66CH-8486 RikonSwitzerlandwwwthe-good-waycomencontact

TORN NEST

3434All Rights Reserved - The Good Way Publishing - 2010