Day 11 - Folk Religion

 Torpakey pulled her burka closer to her figure, as she and her 4 year old son, Jabar, climbed the worn steps to the shrine of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni.  It had taken weeks to save enough money.  She hoped a secret visit to the shrine would be worth the risk.  Her barrenness since her son’s birth had become a constant source of irritation to her husband and his mother, in whose house they lived.  She was defective, and if ever he could afford it, he would take another wife.  She suspected that her barren sister-in-law’s jealously when her son was born had brought the curse of the evil eye upon her.  All the other shrines she had visited had been ineffectual; maybe Allah would hear her entreaty at the shrine of the most powerful ruler in Afghan history.  Surely Allah was with him when he conquered and plundered India 17 times!  Allah must have granted him a place already in Paradise, having done so much to advance Islam.  Hardly a word passed between her and the white-bearded Mullah.  A few notes of money changed hands and she had what she was after!  Away Torpakey went in the vain hope that the scribbles on the paper would change her fate before Allah and thus produce another child.

Pray that: 

• Countless women such as Torpakey who are bound by superstitions will come to know Jesus, the only intercessor between God and man.
• Torpakey will find a Christian friend.  Women suffering from the shame of barrenness warmly welcome Christian prayer. 
• Many from other parts of Afghanistan come to Ghazni seeking healing at the shrines of poets and saints.  Pray that seekers might encounter the Great Physician who gives eternal life.

Luke 5:31 Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.