• • •
Abu Firdaus has been in very poor spirits because of the condition of his daughter who has not been struggling greatly the past week or so. Because of this his demeanor Abu Firdaus had, understandably, become very panicked and frustrated, which is a far cry from the kind and gentle spirit everyone had known him by. In the hopes of alleviating some of the stress, much of which he was putting on himself by being in the hospital, we took him out of the hospital environment he had been living in the last few months and brought him to the Shevet Achim house over the weekend. The outcome could not have been better!
After spending just a few hours in our home Thursday evening he seemed to be doing better; being around other families in similar situations who spoke his language gave him much encouragement, even simply being in a warm comfortable home seemed to make a difference.
Friday the traditional day of prayer in Islam, I took Abu Firdaus to the Old City so that he could spend some much needed time in prayer (see the subsequent excursus on this). The prayers begin at 11am and we left at approximately 10:45 so I knew we were in a rush, however, on the way to the Old City Abu Firdaus kept pointing me toward the Arab market and trying to get me to go there with him. I thought this was curious because I knew we were late for prayer, but he seemed to be very hurriedly tasting some of the greens in the various shops to find the right one, eventually he found what he was looking for: celery. I didn’t know why he was so interested in the greens, and celery of all things, I thought perhaps it had something to do with the prayers…would he be praying so fervently he would need something to sustain him, celery of all things?…would he be making…an offering? After he found it I thought, “certainly we’d better rush to pray,” but he started walking in the opposite direction hurriedly checking out the food stalls once again! When he grabbed a dented can of tomato sauce and started rushing back in the direction of the Shevet Achim house I was completely baffled. Well, as it turns out, Abu Firdaus had had lunch cooking on the stove before we ran out and these were the ingredients he needed to finish the meal. When we visited Abu Firdaus and his daughter in the hospital we talked on a few occasions about his restaurant business back home in Iraq and we often joked that we would love to have him cook for us, and that we would hire him on as our staff cook. He decided to surprise us with that very thing! After some much needed translation through Dorothy, I was told by Abu Firdaus that “of course I would love to go with you to pray, but after lunch!”
After eating a delicious lunch, Abu Firdaus and I finally ventured into the Old City to pray at around noon. I left him at the entrance to the Temple Mount as only Muslims are allowed in most times, and we agreed to meet back at the entrance at 4pm. In the midst of the most dire situation a man can face, his child’s life hanging by a thread, Abu Firdaus emerged with joy visible on his face and embraced me. He later told me after praying, “I am at peace now,” and I believe it, he could hardly keep from smiling on the walk home. On the walk back we enjoyed a sweet from a shop, and I had the pleasure of watching Abu Firdaus do some genuine Arab haggling over some green beans (we got them down to 7 sheqels a kilo). We walked the entire way back through the winding streets of the Old City, up and down the Arab market, and then to the Shevet house arm in arm (which is a feat in itself given the foot traffic).
He had been so uplifted by his day and our loving care to him and Firdaus that he prepared the staff three full dishes for dinner as well!
Abu Firdaus spent the rest of the weekend taking in Jerusalem and getting a much needed break in mind and spirit from the circumstances he is facing. We brought him back to Schneider Children’s Medical Center today a renewed man.
As we learned in a prior visit to him at the hospital, Abu Firdaus has been diligently reading the New Testament each day since he received a Kurdish version from our Jordan coordinator Dirk. He also took interest in one of the Kurdish Bibles we have on our shelves here at Shevet and cracked it open and began to read without hesitation. He showed no signs of hesitance or offense to walk with me arm in arm, even in front of all the Muslims, despite me lugging my enormous and conspicuous Bible to and from the Old City on our outing. Team members have also spoken with him about what it means to pray in the name of Jesus as an intercessor and Abu Firdaus has been moved to take part in this as well for his daughter. Abu Firdaus is a man of great spiritual fervor and sincerity, please pray that the Lord would continue to draw him near and that through these most difficult and painful times where there seems to be no hope and no chance for life, that he would receive the gift of a new life, and hope in the one who freely gives it. Please also continue to pray that God would act in miraculous ways in the life of baby Firdaus, and that the work God is already doing in her now would be only a foretaste of what is to come.
It’s when crazy things like this happen that I know what we are doing is working, and that it really is from above. The notion of a 50 year old Muslim man walking joyfully, literally arm in arm, with a 23 year old Christian through the streets of Jerusalem being joined together with the hope of saving his child’s life…there's something about it.
• • •
Firdaus died yesterday. After being stable and on the road to recovery the child took a turn for the worse about one and a half weeks ago which she never recovered from. I know some of the medical details about her condition and operation and the difficulties that had the potential to make her unsavable but I didn’t ask for any further when I heard the news, and I’ll spare you all the details. Almost as difficult for me was the fact that Abu Firdaus was put on a plane last night as well before I had a chance to see him. Yesterday, I drove for 7 hours, and spent 6 hours in Wolfson hospital in Tel Aviv; between two trips to Gaza to pick up and drop off children and 3 trips to Wolfson, and then getting back to Jerusalem, it was all I could muster to reach my bed and collapse when I got home. When I awoke this morning he was already in Amman, Jordan with Firdaus.
I was told by the Shevet staff who went to him after hearing the news that he was on his knees weeping when they arrived, still cradling the small yellow pillow that belonged to Firdaus. They left the hospital with him shortly after. This father that did all that he could for his child, breaking every social, cultural, and religious barrier to save her could now do nothing more than give her just one last kiss before the tiny body bag was zipped over her face.
I have written him the following condolences for Dorothy to read to him in Arabic over the phone:
Abu Firdaus,
I am very sorry I was not able to see you before you left or offer you any comfort in person, I was needed all day to bring children to and from Gaza. I am so sorry for your loss and I know there is little that can make you feel better at this moment. I myself am deeply grieved and mourning for Firdaus as well. I would like you to know that even though you are leaving now, our relationship and your relationship with those who know of you around the world does not end here. It is especially now that we will bring our prayers for you and your family before God so that you may know he has not abandoned or forgotten you. I pray that God would grant you peace that surpasses all understanding and that in the midst of the difficulty and pain, God may use it somehow to draw you nearer than ever before.
With hope and love,
Justin
I know God is not done with Abu Firdaus, he is a better father than many men I know who call themselves good fathers, and practices a purer and more active Christianity than many people I know who so casually call themselves Christians. Perhaps these very events have set that in motion, and I hope it is true that our Father will not end prematurely any good work he begins in us.
• • •
After writing the last section I questioned whether or not it would taint the visceral nature of the blog to include an intellectual excurses on a Christian taking a Muslim to a mosque to pray, lest you think I am not in emotional shambles, or that this grievous event is anything less, but I think it may be helpful to anyone who may have been caught off guard or be apprehensive about it. I don’t mean to provide an answer to every concern, indeed I have my own, but here are just some considerations that most people would not grasp at first thought on the matter.
First, on the idea of different God’s in Christianity and Islam. Etymologically, there can be no argument reasoned from the word “Allah” as this is the standard Arabic word for God, used by Christians and Jews who spoke pre-Islamic Arabic languages like Ancient (Northern) Arabian and Syriac for hundreds of years prior Islam. Today there are at least 30 million Arabic speaking Christians that pray to Allah and have the very same beliefs about Him and Yesua (Jesus) that you and I do. To say that “Allah” is a different god doesn’t make much sense in practical terms. Without the bias against the term “Allah” we would be saying in English “God is a different god from God,” which is linguistically nonsensical. What therefore would be in dispute would be the nature of God in Christianity and Islam, rather than having an entirely different deity on our hand. We have to ask then, do prayers by someone who has different, incomplete, or even heretical beliefs about God not ascend to Him? What percentage of correct belief about God does it take or is it relevant?
With regard to prayer, the issue of Islam’s Mohammed need not come into play much either. Muslims don’t pray to Mohammed, they believe he was a prophet and they do not pray to prophets, they only pray to God. In fact, this is a significant snag that Muslim converts to Christianity face at the onset, as we pray to Jesus (God in flesh). Muslim’s venerate Jesus very highly as a prophet or even higher as a messenger of God (they also regard most Bible characters as prophets as well). This is often surmounted by explaining prayer “in Jesus name” as using Jesus as an intermediary between man and God, that he as our divine peace maker and ransom is the only one through which it is worthy to bring prayers to God, or that because of his special relationship to God Jesus is granted power to appeal God more on our behalf.
It is with this in mind that I have to step back in humility for how Abu Firdaus prayed. This is a man that has been reading the New Testament every day since he has been here, more than I have had time to that’s for certain. It would not surprise me one bit if in fact Abu Firdaus was on the Temple Mount praying in Jesus name for his daughter. This produces more questions for those that haven’t encountered Muslims converts or those in the process. Is it wrong for a Christian to pray 5 times a day at the traditional Muslim times and with the same movements? Is it wrong to pray to God in Jesus name in a mosque? Will a Muslim who tries praying in Jesus name be granted his petition if he has yet to come to faith in Him and is seeking if Jesus has real power? What beliefs must they have about the authority of Koran and Mohammed to be received by Christ?
I believe God is just and merciful, and that he extends the most grace to the little children of faith who have just begun to seek and knock on the door. I did not just see this event as Abu Firdaus going to meet God in prayer and hoping that he would pray in Jesus name. Prayer is where man meets God, where divine pierces mundane, it cannot be the other way around, only God can break this barrier to both receive and answer. I therefore took him there to pray not in the hope that Abu Firdaus would grasp the formula and reality of Christ’s efficacious work and pray accordingly, but that God who has the power to reveal these things to man would encounter Abu Firdaus at this time; that it would be from Heaven down. I don’t know what God revealed in prayer, but if the sense of peace and joy that Abu Firdaus emerged with were from Him, I know that God is indeed at work in this man.
I love you
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm so moved by what you are going through. Hang in there and know that many are praying for you as you do this good work for our Lord.
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