Breaking down barriers
For Christ Himself has brought us peace by making Jews and Gentiles one people. With His own body He broke down the wall that separated them and kept them enemies. Ephesians 2:14 (GNT)
(Oct 20) – Andrea Burnham
Would you be willing to share news that brings everlasting life to those you’ve considered your enemies? One woman’s story…
About a month ago, I joined Ukrainian women for Friday morning Bible study & prayer - we are going through the book of Acts of the Apostles because we find ourselves similar to the diaspora of the early church, living as believers among other evacuees from Ukraine in Romania.
One of the women who attends is Victoria, whose parents are from Israel. She considers herself a Messianic Jewish Ukrainian. The events which erupted early in the morning on Saturday, October 7th, had been consuming her days before we met the next Friday, October 13th. I personally had been perplexed as to why the renowned regular Israeli forces were not available to stop the attack from Hamas for over 6 hours and asked her about it. She explained that it was Shabbat and a national holiday; it would be unusual for anyone observing these holy times to turn on news or even go anywhere out of their regular Shabbat routine, or for much of the militia to be on duty. She said that her friends in Israel found out about the attacks only when she called them to check if they were okay! They had not answered her previous attempts to call because they didn’t want to be disturbed from their strict holiday observance.
The week following the attacks, Victoria had been weighing in on some of the online conversations about Israel’s decisive response to the terror inflicted. Through one of these platforms, she encountered a woman from Iran, named Delara, who was trying to determine whether Victoria was Ukrainian, decrying 600+ days of terrorist attacks from Russia, or if she was Jewish, reeling from the brutal attacks by Hamas. Victoria answered “both” and added somewhat angrily that neither of her native countries want the type of “peace” that Russia or Iran/Hamas wants to provide for them! The Iranian woman wrote back that she also does not agree with or seek the destruction of Ukraine or Israel…and then she apologized to Victoria on behalf of her people. She said there are many like her in Iran who do not desire these wars or destruction, and certainly not genocide. Victoria asked pointedly why she doesn’t do something to stop her country’s attacks or change their attitude toward Israel/Ukraine. The woman patiently explained that
1) only a limited number of people can leave Iran every year and only with the correct documentation – so people who do not agree with policies/politics of Iran cannot escape easily.
2) they still have the death penalty for dissidents who speak out against the government – to take a stand is putting your own life on the line. Therefore, many people feel a greater responsibility to provide for their families in the short-term than to change their country in the long-term.
3) women are not given many rights, so voting against the current administration in Iran is not a practical solution for her personally – if there are fair elections.
Victoria was pleasantly shocked and humbled by Delara’s request for forgiveness and continued talking with her. She asked her how the Muslim religion approaches the problem of sin or explains a Muslim person’s possible entrance to “heaven” (if there is life after death?) Delara mentioned that she had been hearing during much of her life that faithful Muslims sacrifice for Allah; when a Muslim kills an infidel, and especially a Jewish infidel, the action immediately “takes away” that person’s guilt or sin before Allah and guarantees them paradise after death. Our ladies group then prayed together for God’s miraculous intervention in Delara’s life, knowing that it would be almost impossible for us to send her a Bible, and even less likely for her to safely receive it. Other missionaries to this part of the world have told us about many instances when God revealed Himself through dreams and visions to people, especially in the Middle East. But we encouraged Victoria to continue to challenge Delara’s thinking, using her own testimony of Who the Biblical God is, and that He Himself, Jesus the 3rd person of the Trinity, provided the required death for sin, sacrificially on behalf of His people.
The next Friday all of us gathered expectant to hear what had transpired with Delara during the previous days, and our Almighty and Personal God did not disappoint!
Delara wrote Victoria that earlier in the week she had attended a regular meeting in her mosque and was shocked to hear the mosque leader urge each person there to make serious plans to kill an infidel that week in order to receive the absolution of their sin. She left the meeting crying and said to herself that she cannot serve the kind of god that would require her to murder someone just because their faith is contrary to her own. Still crying she went up into the attic of her building and cried bitterly and spoke her questions and anger aloud. Specifically Delara cried out, “Allah, are you real? Is there any god out there at all? What do you really want from me?” She cried and questioned and stayed in anguish for over 30 minutes in her attic when all of a sudden she felt as though someone was physically embracing her and she heard a voice say close to her ear, “I love you – you are my daughter.”
I relayed a fact to the group that I had learned from Nabeel Qureshi’s book “Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus”: An entire third of the Koran reiterates, over and over, that Allah is not a father and he has no son. We told Victoria to highlight that it could not have been Allah who spoke these tender words to Delara, and to again point her to the God of the Bible – a loving Father Who sees the vulnerable and cares for them, a Comforter and Teacher, a Friend Who is closer than a brother.
Sadly, Delara has had to delete all of Victoria’s communications almost as soon as she reads them for fear that family members will find out she’s been talking with a Christian and investigating another god besides Allah. She’s looked into other phone plans or disposable phones, but nothing can help Delara avoid the risk associated with receiving these private messages from Victoria. But we are praying that the Holy Spirit will call to her mind the truths Victoria has shared with her, in love.
Please lift up both of these women in your prayers – pray for the oppression in their countries to cease, for a deeper understanding of God’s forgiveness to grow in their own hearts, and for God to reveal Himself as truly Just and Merciful, as only He can be!
