February 2023 Persecution Magazine

story, I became ashamed of my lack of
empathy. Mrs. Mukhtar had suffered so
much. Shouldn’t I feel her pain? Shouldn’t
I feel that deep sense of compassion that I
experienced in similar meetings with other
victims?
I was able to supply financial help for her
and her family, but we had to cut our
meeting short due to security concerns.
Before we left, I asked if I could pray for
her, and she consented.
As I began to pray, I felt compelled to place
my hand on Mrs. Mukhtar’s shoulder. I
knew that would be crossing a cultural
boundary in fundamentalist Muslim
Pakistan, but I felt compelled to do so. I
followed the Spirit’s leading and began to
pray aloud:
“Father, sometimes you ask us to carry
loads that are too heavy for us. My sister
here has one of those loads. Could you
touch her and let her know the peace that
surpasses all understanding? Lord, she has
a desert to walk through, and I pray she
would feel your hand holding hers as she
journeys through it.”
As I prayed over Mrs. Mukhtar, her
shoulders began to twitch. I continued to
intercede for her, and her body started to
shake. Soon the gentle, rocking motion
turned to outright heaving and muffled
cries. I kept my hand on her shoulder after
I finished praying, and her tears turned to
uncontrolled sobbing.
In Urdu, she cried out in anguish, “How
could they murder him? All he did was
love people. He loved the Muslim people.
I cannot forget him. How am I going to
live without him? What if they kill my son,
too?”
My Pakistani associate seemed
uncomfortable with this strong display
of emotion. He patted her on the back
awkwardly, telling her, “Don’t cry.
Everything will be fine. Please don’t cry.”
But everything would not be fine. God was
still in control, and He would walk with her
in her pain, but things were not fine.
Her life had been irretrievably broken.
I sat there with my hand on her heaving
shoulder and prayed in the stillness of my
heart. Then, my tears started to flow as
well. The Word tells us to weep with those
who weep, and I did.
Mrs. Mukhtar after the loss of her
husband when Jeff met her.
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Persecution | FEBRUARY 2023