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For Christ in the Wilderness - Part 1
by Benjamin Prabhu It was around midnight on the 18th of July, 2001 when the sound of my doorbell shook me out of my quiet thought. I was then in my prayer room, preparing a sermon for a meeting, the following day. My wife and I had just returned home around 10pm after attending a house prayer. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where I lived, house meetings were the only source of fellowship and edification for Christian believers. When I opened the door, I found a young Saudi man standing there, who asked me in a rough tone if I was 'Izaak'. When I replied that my name was Isaac, he apologized and left immediately. Although I was disturbed, I went back to preparing my sermon. After about 10 minutes, the doorbell rang again and this time I found two Saudi men at the door. They told me that they had come to search my house with a warrant and to ask some questions. When I hesitated, the older man flashed his secret police ID card. Fear, shock and dismay filled my heart, but I just praised the Lord and prayed for protection. The policemen sat in our living room and started questioning me. I thought they would leave after the usual round of questioning; instead, in the next few minutes, thirteen other policemen entered our house. My wife, who came to the living room, stood by a door leading into a prayer hall, in the hope that the policemen would not discover it. The policemen, though, insisted on checking all the rooms, and barged into the prayer hall. Our prayer hall resembled a small church. The room was soundproofed and beautiful curtains covered the room. The name of our ministry, 'Voice of the Solid Rock', and a few other bible verses written on placards, were hung over a small make-shift altar at the front of the room. The policemen stood there for a moment, taking stock of the room in which they were standing. The next instant, they started to turn the room upside down. They tore the placards to pieces, broke the musical instruments, and confiscated the songbooks and other church literature. They were furious to see a small church, in one of the major commercial cities in the country, just a few kilometers from the holiest cities of Islam. Even as they raided the house, a few men conducted my interrogation. I was questioned about the church and two other evangelistic programs which had taken place in the city recently, including the people who attended these meetings. Initially, these meetings were supposed to be farewell meetings for my wife and myself, as we were leaving Saudi Arabia for good after 17 years of service in a government hospital there, and returning home to India; but we decided to convert it into a thanksgiving service combined with a miracle crusade to give thanks and glory to God for His amazing provisions through the years. I claimed total responsibility for the conduct of these meetings but they insisted on knowing the names of the other people involved. The police officer threatened to beat me up before my wife's eyes, if I did not reveal the names of the Christians. I remained silent but continued to praise God in my heart. I shut my eyes tight, expecting the first blow to land on my face and to avoid seeing my wife's agony; but then the officer's mobile phone started to ring, and after speaking for a few minutes, he abruptly stopped the interrogation and said that I was to accompany him. I believe God saved me that moment as a sign to prove that He was with me and my wife. Yes, the praise brought victory! The raid went on till about 3 am. The policemen seized my personal computer, CDs, audio and video tapes, copier and printer. The officer in charge assured me that I would be held for interrogation only for two days, during which time, my wife could stay with a family friend or be put up in a female prison. I contacted a close friend, who came within 15 minutes of the call, to pick up my wife. Before I left with the policemen, I embraced my wife, comforting her with the words, 'Do not fear. God is with us'. Even though she was in tears, she showed tremendous strength and fortitude. I was told to carry all the seized items in a large carton, to the police vehicle. Amazingly, a collection of video tapes and bibles in Arabic, went unnoticed by the police. If they had been noticed, they would have served as incriminating evidence and they would have imposed severe punishment on us. The Lord had miraculously closed the eyes of the policemen to this and saved us from further danger! I believe that the God we serve is an almighty and all powerful God who understands the deepest cries of our heart and is able to save us from the attacks of the evil one. His word says that those who hope in the Lord will never be put to shame. It was this fact that gave me courage to keep going, while He continued to deliver me from difficult situations such as these to prove that He is the same yesterday, today and forever! I recalled the story of a certain believer, who when he smuggled Bibles into communist Russia across the border, he would pleas with God to close the eyes of the guards, so that they would not see the packages in which the bibles were smuggled. God was gracious to him, and blinded the eyes of the guards, and protected him from interrogation. In the same way, God protected us by blinding the eyes of the police officers, so that they might not see the important tapes. It was truly a miraculous act by God! 2010 copyright Benjamin Prabhu. Benjamin Prabhu is a doctor, currently preparing for his medical licensure exams. His father, Prabhu Isaac, is a pastor and founder of Voice of the Solid Rock ministry in Pittsburgh, PA. http://voiceofthesolidrock.org http://uponthesolidrock.wordpress.com Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |