Persecuted at Home
Although he was quite a bit taller than she was, she grabbed him by the shirt collar, her face creased in rage. “Allahu akbar!” [‘God is great!”] she screamed, then grabbed a garden hose and started whipping her son. He could not sleep for five days afterward because of the welts on his back. “The Bible,” she told him, “is a dirty book, and Christians are devils.” A few days later, she threatened to slit his throat with a kitchen knife. Yousef wanted to lead his family to the same joy in Christ he had found, but he worried that the attempt could cost him his life. Nevertheless, he carefully talked to others about his faith.
Choosing Christ Above All
Once, he and his older brother were on their knees in prayer when their mother barged into his brother’s room. She hit Yousefs head with an iron skillet. She beat his brother and then started to choke Yousef until he nearly lost consciousness. Another time, Yousef’s father threatened to push him off a third-story balcony. “He told me if he pushed me off, he’d go to jail, my mother would go insane, and my brother would become a beggar on the street,” said Yousef. “But he said if I jumped, then everyone would just say my father had a crazy son.” Yousef considered his options with Romans 12:18 in mind: “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
He decided to jump, in order to avoid bringing dishonor to his family. He survived with only an injured shoulder and a cut above one eye. “Why did you jump?” his father asked him at the hospital. “I was just trying to scare you so you would return to our faith.” Yousef did not return to his parents’ faith. While God doesn’t wish for any family to be in discord, he makes it clear that we are to place our relationship with him above all others. Jesus said that for those who follow him, there is the risk that “they will be divided, father against son and son against father” (Luke 12:53). When our family members don’t share our faith, it is vital that they see Christ working in and through us.
Swimming Upstream
Consider, if you will, the gentle spirits of Yousef’s grandfather and uncle. They captured his heart, not with threats, but with stories that led Yousef in finding the Lord. Today Yousef chooses to swim upstream just as his grandfather and uncle showed him. He spends much of his time ministering to young Muslims. He helps smuggle Bibles and other Christian literature, and he uses the Internet to help lead young Arabs to Christ. It’s a courageous move. The resistance is great. Each day there is a chance that he will be caught and persecuted. But he swims upstream anyway, knowing he will one day be reunited with his grandfather. His story is a reminder to all followers of Jesus to notice where we are in the stream-whether we are giving our all to keep moving upstream or whether we are floating downstream.
THE END
Date: 10th May 2025
Martyr: Yousef
Location: Not specified
Source: The Voice of the Martyrs “I am n”
Author: Not Specified
Suffering Saturday 142
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