“Mary” tells of her escape from Pakistan

I had to flee for my life. There was no longer any reason to stay in Pakistan and only God could make a way for me to leave. Muslim colleagues set fire to my room in the hostel where I stayed, assuming I was asleep inside. They were fulfilling their religious responsibility. They believed I deserved death, not life. But my Great Shepherd had directed me out that evening, so I was not hurt by the plans of those who had turned against me.

I belonged to a devout Muslim home. One of our servants would dutifully clean the bathrooms and I would watch as my aunt served him tea by pushing it to him along the floor using a stick. She retrieved the cup in the same way. My aunt didn’t want to have contact with him as this servant was a Christian.

At school, my closest friend was a Christian and tried to encourage me to read the Bible. I refused and continued along the usual path of a well-educated Muslim girl. Eventually my
marriage ended and tragically all my children died, and I sought something beyond what I believed.

When I came to know the Lord, I faced problems and difficulties as a Muslim woman – they have no power but that exercised through their husband, father, brother or son. The Lord took me out of darkness and rejection and brought me into light. He took me as his own daughter.

The Qur’anic stories of Jesus awoke something in me as I read about him restoring eyesight to the blind and raising the dead. I asked to attend a prayer meeting with my Christian friend and it was there that I received Jesus’ forgiveness in my own life.

I was so transformed by Jesus that I wanted to share the Good News with everyone I knew. That was when persecution began, which eventually led me to coming to the UK in the 1995.

Christians in Pakistan face persecution today. People still live under death threats − especially those who have converted from Islam. Pray that they may cling to Jesus and know the blessing of being a follower of Jesus.

But what of that servant that cleaned my home as a child? Years later I learnt that my Christian friend from school was his daughter. He must have prayed for the family he humbly served. What a blessing and joy it must have been for him to hear that the child that watched him drink tea passed by the prodding of a stick now worshipped his living Saviour!

Mary (not her real name) left Pakistan for Britain in 1995. You can support persecuted Christians across the world by contributing to the work of Release International. To find out more, visit
www.releaseinternational.org or call 01689 823491

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This article was published in the November 2013 edition of  Reform.

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