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IRAQ: Secret Believer Finds Bible in Broken Taxi
Thursday 3 December 2009
“God uses strange ways to get me His Word and to find Jesus”
A typical street scene in an Iraqi city.
“Secretly I was searching for Jesus for a long time and I knew that I needed a Bible to find Jesus, but I did not know how to obtain one. It was too dangerous to ask around for a Bible. But then on a morning I felt that somebody, probably God, told me in my heart that I had to go out and to drive to a part of my city, which can be very dangerous, but I felt pushed to go, so I went. Driving on a road I suddenly saw a car with problems, so I stopped in order to help the man. And God is great, since that man with his broken car was a secret believer with a Bible in his car. I fixed his car on the spot and God provided with His word. What a miracle….”, shares Amer about his wonderful encounter with taxi-driver Adil on the road in a big city in the Middle East.
Open Doors has different kind of SED-projects (socio-economic projects) running in the Middle East. Some are big ones, but there are also some small ones, like small micro credits and loans. Given loans to taxi drivers is an example of such small SED-projects and in this article there is an update on four taxi’s, who are part of a certain SED-project in the Middle East. Three of the 4 taxis started working last year and the fourth one came from the repayment of the first three (revolving fund). Charles, fellow-coordinator of this project, says: “It is a great success and it is really helping secret believers. In the coming year the project is expanding with another three taxis. The participants are all MBB’s, who have trouble with their financial situation because of being a Christian. The drivers are very happy with the possibilities they have and the money they earn. Three of the taxis are operated by man, one by a woman. She has only female customers.”
Project description Charles likes to share more about this remarkable project: “In cooperation with a local church and pastor we started the taxi project last year. The plan was to provide people from the (underground) church, without jobs, with the opportunity to become a taxi driver. It was important that they were able to take on their own responsibility in making it a success. The taxi will be owned by the project and is leased to the taxi driver. The driver is responsible for all the costs and is obliged to pay back the whole loan in instalments over a certain period of time. The driver joins a taxi station, so he can get customers through this institution.
The money that comes back to the project can be put into a und out of which more cars can be bought and therefore more people can be helped. The project gives a decent living to the people who are driving the taxi and gives them the chance to get out of their poverty and support their families. Another important aspect is that the drivers have the chance to talk to their customers and share about their faith. The drivers hand out Christian materials as well, like Bibles and Jesus movies. All of the taxi drivers have a cross hanging in their car, which often brings them to great and significant conversations.
Meet the drivers…
Muhsina Muhsina is 33 years old and the female driver. She is living with her 13 year old son. Because of her faith, her family and husband have thrown her out. Now she is able to make her own living as a taxi driver and meanwhile she tries to introduce Jesus Christ, our Savior, to the passengers. She is working very hard to take care of her son. “When I got this car, my life changed so much to the positive. To be able to earn my own money and to be less dependent on family or friends, gave me a wonderful and thankful feeling. God has blessed my life. Also I have many opportunities to share the Gospel with my passengers. It is easier for a woman to reach out to a woman than for a man to do this, so God is giving me great opportunities.”
Shakil Shakil is 25 years and has lost his father in his childhood. For many years now he is taking care of his mother and sister. Unfortunately Shakil had trouble in paying back his loan and after numerous warnings the pastor decided to take the car away from him. That is regarding the guidelines, but it is still difficult. The pastor was very sad about this, but did not see any other possibility.
Kamal Kamal is a married MBB. He is 39 years old and his wife is 34. Together they have a 6 year old child. Because of pressure, they had to leave their hometown. Two days after making the decision to stop the project with Sadegh, the pastor heard about Kamal. His wife told the pastor that they had money problems, but that Kamal was embarrassed to tell it to him. His wife said that Kamal was thinking about becoming a taxi driver, but Kamal did not know how to do this. He did not know anything about this project when he thought of this. The pastor really saw this as divine planning and decided to give the car to Kamal. He is very happy with it and is making good money out of this project.
Tirdad The third car was given to Tirdad, a 22 year old man who wants to get married. He already had most of the money in hand and he was helped by the pastor with the rest of the money to buy this car. He is really happy with the possibility and is using the car in a proper right way.
Adil Adil is 33 years old and owns the fourth car. He is single because his financial situation does not let him to have his own family. Now working as a taxi driver he is doing well. He works hard and hopes this brings in the opportunity to marry. He shares: “I have grown up in a fanatic Muslim family, but Islam has never fulfilled my dreams. I ended up addicted to drugs. But when I came to Christ, I healed completely. I like to witness to my passengers what GOD is doing in my life and how Jesus Christ has made me free. Hallelujah.”
Bible
Adil also likes to share about a great miracle God had given him and somebody else: “One day I got a call to go to a really desolate part of town, which is also quite criminal and dangerous. At first I doubted if I wanted to go, but after praying for it I felt that I should go, so I went. When I arrived in this part of the city and I was searching for the address to get my passenger, my car broke down and I was stuck and could not go anywhere. I started really questioning God, why He had asked me to go to this part of town, where even now my car was broken down? I did not feel safe at all and I did not know what to do.
I was sitting in my car and praying and then suddenly a man came to me. He knocked on my car window and he asked me after my problem. I told him about my broken car and hallelujah, he turned out to be a car mechanic. He looked at my car and knew how to fix the problem. He said that the broken part was difficult to obtain on the market, but by accident he had this specific part in his trunk and he could help me right away.
What a miracle and I was really happy about that! When the man was finished he saw at my dashboard the sign of the cross and he asked me if I am a Christian. Of course I answered with yes, and then the man asked if I had a Bible for him and indeed I had one hidden in my car, so I gave him one. And then this man, called Amer, told me his story. He was searching for Jesus for a long time and he felt that he needed a Bible to find Jesus in, but he did not know how to get one. This morning he felt that the Lord told him he had to go out and to drive to this part of our city. He did that and then he found me. He just wanted to help me and Amer did not realize that I was the person the Lord had in mind for Amer to provide him with a Bible. Is it not great and are God’s ways not remarkable?”
At the end Adil and the others wants to thank the pastors and churches for their help and support, by means they can work as taxi drivers and become more and more independent from financial support from others. “We want to thank everybody who is helping in this ministry. It is a great encouragement and comfort for us.”
