My Enemy Becomes My Security

A Reflection of Rey’s Trip to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, November 23 to December 4, 2007

The Bible declares that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. According to Ravi Zacharias “Truth by definition is already exclusive.” Jesus by claiming that He is the Truth implies any other belief that contradicts his teaching is an “enemy” of Christ himself. I am a strong believer of the exclusivity of the gospel. Jesus is the only savior. You can never add Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu and others philosophies to the teaching of Christ. Christ is the champion and everything will fall down before Him. Through this I love the way Ravi said, “the hill of Calvary is the center point of the Gospel. All the suffering of the world converged there in that single act of suffering when Jesus Christ, the One without sin, took the penalty of our sin and accepted the ultimate in suffering – separation from His Father – so that we might be brought to him.”

When Ejaz and I went to Pakistan we preached Christ. We brought GYMN materials and trainings there but the heart of it all is Christ. We were able to conduct two level 1 seminars and one level 2 seminar. The first seminar was held in a Bible College and there were 55 students who participated. After the seminar, they testified that they had learned a lot and were ready to go for youth ministry in their context. Furthermore, those students represented most of the provinces of Pakistan and as they go back to their places they will bring what they have learned and some will host another seminar next year. We also rejoiced because the administrator of the Bible College invited us to go back next year to conduct a full three-days seminar.

Another seminar was held in one of the churches in Pakistan. Those who joined the seminar were very zealous in doing youth ministry. Generally, their cry is they do not have training and youth ministry orientation. Thus, they were very thankful for GYMN because we went there and met them where they are. They testified that the materials and the teaching we brought was an answer to their needs in youth ministry.

To experience ministry in a country like Pakistan where there are lots of needs in the ministry yet few workers, I cannot control myself at times to thank God for giving us hundreds of trainings and and thousands of materials in the Philippines. But at the same time I also feel guilty that we receive a lot of trainings but we seldom think of and consider other nations at all. My personal philosophy in life and ministry is good theology bridges into good methodology. A Christian who has received a lot of trainings and never considers world mission is bad. But a Christian who has received a lot of trainings, has never considered world mission and tries to justify it is worse. Thus, if we receive good theology especially in youth ministry it should urge us to go to other nations and make disciples.

The trip to Pakistan was not only on the GYMN trainings but we also focused on the people. Therefore, we also made ourselves available for other ministries. We traveled to many churches and delivered the word of God. There was one Sunday where we were not able to finish the whole service because after preaching another church was waiting for us to speak! The good thing is the strength of God is always upon His servants and we finished the day with celebration knowing that God used us in His own wonderful ways.

What amazed me during the trip is when we were invited to an open healing rally. There was a massive crowd of people who witnessed the event and for sure there were Muslims in the crowd. If ever there was a time in my life that I am afraid of death it was during that very night. Knowing the present situation of Pakistan I was very afraid that a terrorist will come and disrupt the meeting. I almost asked my interpreter to find a way out for us to not minister the word that night. But I was not able to find an excuse so I let go and allowed God to work. I remembered the statement of Ravi Zacharias, “Walking by faith means to follow Someone else who knows more than you do, Someone who is not only all-powerful but also good.” Just like the early church in the book of Acts we took persecution as a platform of opportunity.

It was really a step of faith to enter and walk the aisle going to the main stage that night, even though I am sure that if I will be hit by a bullet and die, I will directly go to the presence of God in the heavens. But a minute before I was going to preach, my interpreter told me that the city officials were also on the stage with us because they would like to announce that the Christians as minority in Pakistan will be given a chance to vote in the coming election. I am not sure if those Muslim officials came for political reasons but what the Lord gave to me that night was total peace. Because of the presence of the Muslim officials it was not possible for enemies to ruin our meeting because as Muslims they wouldn’t want to kill other Muslims. Therefore, the Muslims became my security during that moment. Through this realization I encouraged myself to give it my best shot. I preach with boldness and asked the people to confess in their mouth and heart that Jesus is Lord and Saviour.

Still, while I was preaching I was very conscious that the words that I spoke would not hurt unbelievers. As a person who loves to read theology and mission, I am aware that contextualization is very important. In a Muslim country setting, contextualization is essential.

But above all else, it is not contextualization or the presence of the so-called “enemy” that becomes my security but the presence of the Almighty God, Jesus Christ. Without Him everything fails. I realized that the safest place to be in the world is in the will of God. Even if I were living in America today and it is not the will of God for me to be there then it is not a safe place at all. However, even if I were living in Pakistan today and if it is the will of God for me to be there then it is the safest place for me.