A woman missionary, probably in her late 30's, spoke recently of her work among Afghanistan women in cities which she would not identify for safety reasons. She meets in various houses and firsts develops a social relationship with the residents and then begins to share the gospel after preparing her audience with background from the Old Testament. She must wear a burqa or niqab or hijab whenever she is in country, as must the women who invite her into their homes.
She says the Afghani people are incredibly hospitable, offering her food and shelter for days at a time merely because she is a guest in their country. Oftentimes, she, her ministry partners and those women who choose to listen to her are taking their life in their hands because, while she is not teaching Western ways, she eventually begins to teach Christianity.
The openness of some of these Muslim women to the hope and light of Christ is amazing. In teaching them the Genesis account of Adam and Eve, usually after being asked about "American marriages", when she gets to the part where Adam and his wife were naked and unashamed, oftentimes, after initial nervous laughter, the women begin to weep. She says they long to be in a "safe" relationship with their husbands, where there is no shame, and no danger. Because of the customary separation of the sexes, and arranged marriages, a husband and wife's relationship, rather than being based on love and mutual respect, is one of perfunctory affection, physical coupling and female subservience. The longing she sees and hears from these women for protection and love breaks her heart.
Occasionally, the men of the household are present, and when that happens she never knows what the response will be. She told of one instance where two of the sons of one woman were listening in carefully from the open window, and came imperiously into the room to check out the words to a praise song that one of their sisters had written down. The roomful of women was pensively silent until the men nodded once and handed the paper back. Had they not approved, the consequences could have been dire.
Rather than start with Jesus' atoning death on the Cross for sin, the missionary first establishes a foundation. She says the people know all about falling short of God's standards, but what they have never heard is that God loves, rather than hates the sinner, for Islam teaches something very different. The women are amazed.
Their culture holds Abraham's sacrifice in Genesis 22 as a historical fact. Each year, they celebrate this event by purchasing a sacrificial animal (bull, goat, sheep, or if they are rich, a camel). The head of the clan then presents the beast to the Imam, lays his hand on it and declares that he is a sinner. The animal is then slain to propitiate Allah's anger. In this context, when the missionary finally gets to the account of John the Baptist in the New Testament, and his pronouncement upon seeing Jesus: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world..." the women she is teaching understand exactly what she is talking about, and those whose hearts have been softened by God realize in tears that Jesus died on the Cross for them. That God (Allah) loved them so much that he sent His Son to pay for their sins.
This is so much different from what the mullahs teach from the Qur’an that it leaves some breathless in gratitude. Others respond as if a door slams shut over their hearts and minds and she doesn't see or hear from these again.
Finally, Afghani tradition holds that the gap separating man from God is a vast chasm over which is a razor sharp bridge as thin as a human hair. Any unrighteous who attempt to cross is cut to pieces and plunge into the abyss. When she tells these women that she believes that when a Christian dies, Jesus comes across that bridge to carry His children home because He is perfectly righteous, some break down and sob in utter relief.
This missionary is as courageous (or perhaps even more so) than our brave young soldiers and Marines who face the hatred of the enemy every day fully armed.
I am a tough old, scaly lizard, but the tears flowed out of my eyes like I was staring into the sun. I could not speak even to say thank you to her after her talk.
