Fleeing Persecution
Shafiq, his tormentor, had moved in and was using their possessions, claiming their livestock as his own, and reveling in his “ownership” of his new property. “If you don’t leave immediately,” he ordered Kazim, “I will shoot you and your wife, when we find her.” With only two dollars to his name, Kazim found Yasmeen in the village. They fled, leaving everything behind. They stopped for help at the houses of various friends, but their friends kept turning them away, fearing that they too would be targeted for prosecution.
Kazim and Yasmeen fled to another village where a Christian man allowed them to stay in a small building he owned. He also provided them with clothing, food, and a Bible. “I knew that God would provide help,” Kazim said later, “but I did not know how he would do it. I had one blessing with me – the freedom to preach the Word.” Other Christians who learned of their plight stepped in and purchased a rickshaw for Kazim so that he could support his family as a taxi driver.
Strength in Christ
Some people would call Kazim a fool, the scars on his back may never go away, he may never reclaim his home, and he may always have nightmares about his beatings: but, Kazim is the kind of fool the apostle Paul wrote about: “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ: we are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labour, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless: when persecuted, we endure; and, when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things” (1 Corinthians 4:10-13).
No amount of earthly humiliation or personal sacrifice can suck the life of Jesus out of a person whose eyes are fixed on him. We may be weak in ourselves, yet we are strong in him. “We forget all our worries,” Kazim said recently, “and even today we still feel fresh in Jesus’ faith. I start each day in prayer and then drive my rickshaw.” May each of us walk in such faith no matter what comes our way.
THE END
Date: 25th January 2025
Martyr: Kazim (Part Three)
Location: Pakistan
Source: The Voice of the Martyrs “I am n”
Author: Not Specified
Suffering Saturday 127
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