Dear Friend,

Like all of us, she had dreams and ambitions about what her life might become someday. She had seen the example of her parents and extended family, who struggled to provide for their growing family as they tried to carve out a future for themselves. They dreamed of providing their children with better opportunities and a future. Surely, life wouldn’t repeat itself!

The mere fact that she was born into a Muslim country made no difference; poverty is poverty wherever you go. All her life, Nawab had been raised as a Muslim. She and her husband lived humble lives as they struggled to provide for their four children.

For years, she had struggled with intense pain in her back. The pain was so severe that her sons and daughter-in-law would have to help her stand up and walk. As her health deteriorated, her family helped her with her work as a maid.

DISAPPOINTMENT WITH ALLAH

Desperate for relief, she turned to modern medicine, only to be met with disappointment time and again. The weight of her pain and the hopelessness of her situation were palpable.

Out of desperation, she began to visit Muslim shrines and holy places, offering sacrifices of animals and birds to win her healing. However, her condition remained unchanged.

Eventually, she turned to Muslim healers. One such healer was so confident in his ability to heal her that he promised she would be healed if she drank water he breathed over. In vain, she drank cup after cup, hoping and pleading for Allah to heal her.

Her relentless pursuit of a cure only seemed to draw her further away from the relief she so desperately sought. The more she searched, the more elusive healing became.

Her search finally led her to witchcraft. She began wearing amulets around her neck and body, all in the futile hope that the demons causing her pain would leave her.

Little did she know she was exposing herself and her family to demonic influences. The more ways she sought relief, the more intense her pain became.

PLANTING SEEDS FOR THE FUTURE

All was not lost. It turns out her employers were Christians and would often encourage her with stories of Jesus’s miracles. As she listened, she wanted to see miracles—she wanted her own miracle.

They invited her to one of AsiaLink’s Women’s Empowerment Conferences, and in her desperation, she decided to go. Nawab’s faith began to grow as she listened to the teaching of Jesus from our speaker, a former Muslim herself, who shared her own journey of faith and healing. Maybe this Jesus could heal her!

She would come, listen,  expecting to receive her miracle each day of the three-day conference. But nothing happened. Surely, this Jesus would touch her on the last day of the conference. When the conference ended, Nawab was still in great pain. Instead of feeling discouraged, a hunger had been stirred in her by the conference, and she wanted to know this Jesus and surrender her life to him. Her motivation had shifted. Yes, she still wanted to be healed, but now she wanted to know Jesus!

After several days, she visited Aksa, our AsiaLink Women’s Director. As Aksa and some of the women leaders began to pray over her, Nawab began to stand straight, not bent over as she had been for years. She could feel a warmth spreading through her body, and a sense of peace and relief washed over her.

She abruptly and loudly announced that someone had touched her and that she was no longer in pain. “I am no longer sick,” she said. “I can walk now. I’m not falling over!” And at that moment, she began to cry with joy, for her healing had come at last – Jesus had touched her! Her adult children stood watching their mother, amazed at this Jesus who could heal. They, too, believed in Jesus.

It’s been some time since Nawab was healed. She now regularly sends Muslims to her church, telling them that they, too, can have an encounter with Jesus.

SOMEONE SOWED THE SEED

She was a Muslim woman that none of us here in Canada will ever meet this side of heaven. Yet, because of faithful friends and ministry partners who invested in our Women’s Empowerment Conferences in past years, her life, her family, and countless other Muslims have been radically changed.

Later this month, AsiaLink’s Women’s Empowerment Conference will take place, with our featured speaker a former devout Muslim. She understands the struggle and threat of living in a Muslim society where women are regularly living under oppression.

We’ve already raised part of the budget for this incredible conference, but we still need to raise $2,700 to ensure that every woman can attend, regardless of her faith background, whether Muslim, Hindu, or of a different faith. Many of these women are very poor and need assistance. Join me in helping sponsor this powerful ministry encounter?

Your generous support has the power to see many Nawab’s come to faith in this Muslim nation. As a partner of AsiaLink, we are asking 25 of our dear friends to each contribute $101.25 to help sponsor 15 women to attend the conference. Perhaps God will inspire you to sponsor even more women to attend! You can sow By partnering together, we can see God at work!

Thank you!

Yours for Asia’s Harvest,

(Rev.) Dale R. Hiscock  / Executive Director /