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For Christ in the Wilderness - Part 2
by Benjamin Prabhu From my home, I was taken directly to the prison of Ministry of Interior. There, I was made to wait in the cubicle of the officer who had arrested me. In the carton of video tapes and bibles I carried, there was a book 'Tortured for Christ', written by Richard Wurmbrand. Till today, that powerful book remains as a strong reminder to keep trusting the Lord, in the midst of persecution. It reminded me that it was necessary to suffer for the sake of Christ. All of us who believe in Jesus Christ, are called in some way, to bear His name through difficult circumstances as well. At that moment, I realized that God was preparing me to face the events which were going to happen hereafter. After a few minutes, a policeman walked into the room, and proceeded to shackle my hands and feet with heavy chains. From there, they took me in a jeep, to a solitary confinement cell in the same compound. I felt humiliated, and I cried out to God, 'Lord, what have I done to suffer this? Was preaching your words to lost souls, a crime?' It was then, that I heard a still small voice asking me, 'Do you know my sufferings on the cross? Do you know the shame I endured, when I walked to Golgotha carrying the cross? Are you suffering more than that?' Yes, I was reminded in a painful way of the sufferings, my dear Savior had endured for me, that I may be saved by His grace and made whole. I was encouraged by the thought, that my predicament was nothing compared to the agony of my Lord on the cross. I decided to place my trust in Him, and moved on with praises in my lips. When we arrived at the confinement area, there were sixteen solitary cells lined up and I was thrown into Room number 8 at 3:30am, and the metal door closed shut behind me. The room was 7 feet long and 3 feet wide. The size of the room was the size of a pit, dug for a coffin. It seemed to me that, trusting in the Lord was going to be tougher than I thought! One thing I knew though, was that the Holy Spirit was interceding for me. Only by His spirit, I had a grateful heart to thank the Lord for the little comforts like a mattress and pillow which they had provided. The solitary cell, literally and metaphorically, cut me off from the outside world; and I was left with two choices to contemplate. I could either will myself to die, or stand strong, believing that when God is for me, none can stand against me. The room had steel walls on both all sides, and there was no window or proper lighting. The prison had a central air conditioning facility, and food was served thrice a day, at regular timings. Although shock, fear and loneliness plagued me, I thanked God for these facilities, in the midst of such troubles. I remembered the words of David in Psalms 34:1, " I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my lips", and of Paul in I Thessalonians 5:18, "In everything, give thanks". In the night, however, I was very disturbed, and unwanted thoughts robbed me of my sleep. My only recourse was to get down on my knees, and I prayed, "Lord, there were only ten days for us to leave this country and return home, and I know that nothing takes place which is not your will. For 17 years, we lived safe under the shadow of your wings, using the resources we had, to minister your gospel in secrecy. You blessed us with an effective ministry and gave us all that we wanted, but I want to understand why you chose to remove your hand of protection now when we were less prepared for it". Immediately, the Lord showed me the verse of Revelations 2:10, "Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer; behold, the devil shall cast some of you in prison that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation for ten days: be thou faithful unto me". This gave me new determination, to accept the sufferings for the Lord and to overcome the plans of the devil, and to be faithful to Christ, till my last breath. That night, I slept peacefully forgetting all my troubles. The next morning, at around 5:30am, the officer on duty knocked on the door of my cell, and through a small opening, pushed through a breakfast packet. After much pleading, I was allowed to go to the bathroom to rinse my mouth. The food served in this prison was not bad; but the inmates of this prison were treated like animals and were not allowed to even see each other. We had to take turns to use the bathroom, and one had to wait for 15-30 minutes but God gave me grace to face such hard conditions. To add insult to injury, they permitted neither my wife nor any of my friends to visit me in this prison, and I was thus deprived of any encouraging words. It was later when I came to know, that after two days of my arrest, my wife had contacted the prison authorities for permission to visit me. They lied to her, saying that there was no prisoner by the name of Prabhu Isaac, and was told to go away. She repeatedly applied for permission to see me, but she would be denied every time. The authorities deceived everybody by simply stating that I would be released soon. FIRST INTERROGATION At 9:30am, they brought me out of the cell and with shackled hands and feet, they took me to the room of the interrogating officer. This officer was middle aged, dressed in the traditional Arab dress and spoke good English. He asked me to sit down and subjected me to a barrage of questions. "Why were you acting against our religion? Why did you contact such big services? Where are the two Saudis who attended your meetings? Who brought them to your meetings? Who are the other Christian leaders involved in this?" He assured me, that if I furnished these details, he would release me in two days and allow me to see my wife on the same day. I discerned that his plan was to elicit information from me by speaking softly, and lulling me into a false sense of security. I knew that he had no intentions of releasing me. I told him firmly, that I did not know the details of the two Saudis. He then directed his subordinate officer to conduct a thorough enquiry and submit a report. After that, I was taken back to my solitary cell. In the thanksgiving meetings, which were held a few weeks prior to my arrest, we had invited the well known evangelist Dr John Solomon, to be the special speaker. In the first service, we had a young Saudi man who came forward to testify that he had accepted Christ as His personal savior after secretly watching the 'Jesus' film in Arabic. In the second service, there was a middle aged Arab man who came forward during the altar call. He had heard of the meeting from his Filipino maid, and decided to come. The day after the service, he called up to testify that he had been suffering from chronic kidney failure, but during the altar call, he saw a bright light shining before his eyes, and felt two hands touching his back exactly on the kidney portions. The next day, he went to his doctor, only to find out that he had been completely healed! Consequently, these two crusades were the first of its kind with an attendance of 2000 and more, a gathering which is considered pretty huge in Saudi Arabia. The authorities who interrogated me were informed about these two Saudis in particular, and this was a major cause of their anger towards me. They accused me of converting their people and demanded to know the details regarding these two Saudis. The next day being Friday, a holiday (Thursdays and Fridays, being the week-ends in the Arab world), I was anxious regarding the enquiry scheduled for Saturday, and several questions ran through my mind. "How can I divulge the names of other Christians? If I do, what would happen to them? If I reveal the names of the Saudis, would they be beheaded? (since their law prescribes this punishment for conversion) ". As expected, on Saturday, they once again shackled my hands and feet with chain and dragged me to the next building for interrogation. My ankles and feet hurt a lot, as the inner rings of the chains were sharp edged. It grazed my skin and caused bleeding. They interrogated me at least four or five times a day, and it was a painful experience to walk with the chains. The officer who conducted the enquiry, was a young man, who asked about the details of the prayer meetings held in our house. I was very particular about not divulging any names, and I pleaded with God to speak through me, by claiming His word in Matthew 10:19-20, "But when they delivered you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be a given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you". I committed myself to God's hands and decided that even when threatened with false accusations, I would remain a true witness and use the occasion to give answers that would bring glory to the name of the Lord. During the enquiry, I gave them details of how I came to Saudi Arabia, and how I accepted the Lord. I was a young man from a small town in India, and was raised up in a God fearing Christian family, but had no personal relationship with Christ. I received my bachelor's degree in Radiography from a reputed Christian college, and in 1984, a year after my wedding, I was recruited to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and joined a year later by my wife, who was a nurse. For a few years, we led a quiet, normal life that was for the most part, worldly. We were nominal Christians till 1987, when one day, Jesus came into our lives and changed everything. Since then, we have been serving the Lord with all that we have; and in 1990, we were called into His service. At this point, the officer interrupted me and accused me of transgressing the law of the land by conducting home church meetings and prayer services. I explained politely, that the meetings were for the Christians who were away from their own countries, and not specifically for the conversion of any Muslims. There were no huge prayer halls or churches, for them to gather and pray, and because of the lack of this facility, they were wasting their lives, going after aimless pleasures. These churches were for their spiritual growth and always held in sound proofed rooms, so as not to disturb the neighbors. The interrogation lasted for a couple of days, lasting several hours each day. A charge sheet was prepared, based on my replies, with my signature and thumb impression. Some tapes of our prayer meetings were played, and questions were asked. Through answering their queries, I had the opportunity to witness and present the gospel. I boldly affirmed my faith in Jesus as the Savior of the world and that He is the way, the truth and the life. Even under pressure, I did not divulge the names of those who attended our meetings. Finally, a four page charge sheet was presented to the superior officer who was furious at the fact, that I had not revealed any incriminating information. I was threatened with dire consequences and ordered to face further enquiry. My lock up in the solitary cell was extended. This nearly broke my spirit. 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 |