Page 10 - MyFaith Mag April - May web 2016

Christian communities —by Open Doors SA
in Central Asia are
being strengthened
with your support!

Abdul* and his wife, Arina*, are from a country in Central Asia. When they came to faith, about five years
ago, they did not expect that one day they would pay a heavy price for their newfound Christian faith. For
after eight years of diligent and excellent service as a sales manager at a big furniture company, Abdul
was shown the door – purely because of his love for Jesus! So at 37, Abdul, his wife, and their four children
were without an income…

Three years into his faith journey, Abdul’s pastor left their congregation to plant a church in another city. In his stead, Abdul
was chosen by the congregation to lead the church and was ordained as a pastor. The church, however, was not able to
provide Abdul with a salary, so Abdul continued working as a sales manager at the furniture company. The news of his pastoral
ministry spread rapidly. When the owner of the furniture company, a dedicated Muslim, learned that one of his employees was
a Christian pastor, he immediately fired Abdul.

DENY CHRIST AND SECURE YOUR JOB

The director of the sales department tried everything to keep Abdul on. He even asked Abdul to deny Christ and to abandon
his congregation. “You have a family, you must feed them; leave your Christ for the sake of your family,” he said. But Abdul
remained unshaken in his devotion to Jesus, “There is no way [that] I am going to refuse Him who did not refuse me and who
died for my sins.”

“It was a very difficult time for my family,” Abdul says as he recalls what they went through. “I tried [being] a private taxi driver,
[but] we could barely make ends meet. I remember one day when we did not have enough money to buy milk for our kids. I
came into our apartment and saw my wife, Arina. She was crying. I went to our bedroom. I was very upset and was questioning
God’s will for my family. I fell on my knees and began praying, ‘Heavenly Father, did You really want me to serve as a pastor? Did
I understand You correctly? Please reveal Your plan for my family and show me Your face!’”

GOD MAKES A WAY WHERE
THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY

And God did! A week after Abdul cried out
to the Lord in desperation, he met an Open
Doors worker. Abdul was able to explain his
situation to the person; sharing his desire to
continue serving as a pastor.

One of the ways in which Open Doors could “There is no way [that] I am going to refuse Him who did not refuse me and
assist Abdul and his wife, was to provide who died for my sins,” Abdul* said. Afterwards he found himself without a job.
them with a microloan to start up their own
business. Abdul opened his own shop in
which he sold household water filters. It
provided him with an income to support his
family, whilst also allowing him to continue
serving at his church.
Abdul’s business is flourishing and he has also