Day 29 – Quetta

As Obed arose he was careful not to waken his eight siblings and father who were still sound asleep on the floor.  Their two-bedroom house was home for their family of eleven and also his uncle's family who moved in to help with the rent.  His mother was already at work in the small courtyard making the morning tea.  Obed enjoyed the early morning and the view of the rugged mountains that surround the desert city of Quetta.  Soon the pollution and dust would hide the skyline as the city would begin to bustle with its bulging population of around 1 million.   

He stepped into the street, heading to the market to buy vegetables for his mother.  This was his world – a world his sisters hardly knew.  As he walked past a park he saw it was filled with long bearded young men, Talibs, whose pants were hemmed above their ankles and prayer caps rested on their heads ready to say Islamic prayers.  He knew the extreme form of Islam the Taliban had imposed over Afghanistan and wondered if that was truly what God desired for his life and community.  Obed had many questions.

Quetta is home to several ethnic groups of which the majority is Pushtun.  The city teeters between modern and tribal, fundamentalism and secularism, hope for development and abject poverty.

 

Pray that:

• Christ will be revealed to the young in this conservative city which has produced and hosted many Taliban.  Some are open to change and looking for hope and lasting truth.
• Women will come and minister to the women since men absolutely cannot.
• God will continue moving by His Spirit through dreams and healings.

 

Isaiah 43:18,19 Forget what happened long ago! Don’t think about the past.  I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it?  I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands. CEV