July Blog...The Four Pillars of Open Doors

 

JUST AS ISLAM HAS FIVE PILLARS TO ITS RELIGION, OPEN DOORS HAS FOUR WHICH FORM THE CORE OF OUR MINISTRY

1. Distribution of Bibles: A lady who is now eighty would once a year ring Open Doors and ask us where we would like her to travel next.  She would turn up receive some bibles and training and off she would go, carrying twenty kilos of literature in her suitcase.  Every trip was the same, she would fly into the country with the bibles and then spend a week finding people she could give them too.  One day in Iran she was sitting on a park bench when a young man approached her. 

 He started telling her about his brother in the US.  “I don’t mind him being in the US,” he said “I don’t mind him drinking or partying, but what I don’t like is that he is now saying that God has a son.  I can see that you from the West and a Christian so you must believe that God has a son also.  So tell me how can my brother believe this when it is not true!”  After listening intently she began to explain how Jesus is the son of God.

 

Later, on another trip, she was waiting for her bags in arrival when she sees the same young man.  He too realises who she is.  He waves, smiling he pulls out a cross from his shirt and kisses it.  “God is at work and in control”

We are always trying to get bibles into Iran and looking for different ways to do this.  A business man was approached with the idea of forming a business in Iran in order to help our ministry.  On his first trip to Persia he gets in to a Taxi to go to his hotel and the taxi driver turns out to be an Islamic fundamentalist, but who can’t speak much English.  After the man arrives at his Hotel he gets a ring from reception.  "Sir your taxi driver is down stairs waiting for you.  He has found an interpreter and wants to you to come down so he can explain about Islam to you.”  The man gets frustrated and says “no I’m tired, tell him I’m not interested, tell him he should go.”  Half an hour later, he gets another ring from reception.  “Sir your driver is still waiting for you I think you should come down.”  Reluctantly he goes down to the lobby and spends the next 40 minutes listening about Islam.

At the end of his trip he gets another taxi to the airport only this time the taxi driver is a born again Christian who has copies of the bible in Farsi.  At the airport the businessman recognises the fundamentalist and asks his Christian driver if he can give away a Farsi bible.  The driver gives him one, he runs up to the fundamentalist says “I have something for you” gives him the bible, says “bye bye” and runs away into the terminal.

Later on another trip to Iran, our businessman is leaving the airport and who should approach him but the fundamentalist.  Before he could get away and because he is polite he accepts the ride.  This time the driver does not communicate with him, but drives quietly, as they are driving past a church the man points to it, says “thank you for your present, I now go to that Church!”  God is at work and is in control”

2.       Socio economic Development:

 

No testimonies for this one, but training and resources are given to those who because of their faith have lost their jobs, careers or a member of the family who was the main income earner.  Typical training and resourcing includes taxi driving, small store ownership, micro enterprise loans etc.

 3.       Training:  

Two workers in Iran who had received Open Doors training where driving in the North of the country in the mountains when they arrived in a small village.  After speaking to the local people about conditions of the mountain road they were advised to wait for the following morning, as it was too dangerous to drive at night due to the icy conditions.  The two men asked if there are any hotels, but were told that they were in a small village without any accommodation.  So they asked if they could stay with the villages, but the local man said “we do not know who you are or where you come from, how could we trust you if you stayed with us?”  One of the travellers replied, well sir we are evangelists from Tehran.”  The villager asks “what is an evangelist we have never heard of this word!” So they explained that an evangelist is someone who tells others about the prophet Isa.  The villages wanted to know more about why they should wish to talk about the prophet Isa (Jesus), so they invited the travellers to share a meal and continue the discussion.  Late in the night the evangelist stated that they were tired and needed a place to rest, but the villages argued about whose house they should be allowed to stay in.  Finally one went to one house and the other to another house.  In the morning some villages approached them as they were about to leave.  “Sir can you please take us with you in your car so we can hear more about this Jesus.  We will get out when we have gone one days walk from here!”  God is good and in control! 

4.       Encouragement:   

A Christian in Pakistan Ayub Masih had problems with his Muslim neighbour.  In Moslem countries if you want to get even with a Christian all you have to do is go to the authourities and say that he has made a comment about the Koran or Mohammed and the man by law must be arrested (at least in Pakistan).  Ayub Masih spends 18 months in jail for these accusations.  While he is in prison Open Doors begins a writing campaign for him encouraging believers around the world to send him a post card.  Over the 18 months he receives 250 000 post cards.  He becomes the most famous prisoner in Pakistan.