Extra: Praying for a Bible

From where the taxi is forced to stop out to the actual desert mosque is a long walk through the hot dusty sand.  But for the sake of my tour groups it was always an interesting site to visit since long the way there are many signs that the YOU people worship a very folk form of Islm.    The locals stop and pray at each makeshift shrine composed of sheep skins, old head scarfs of lose pieces of material, all tied on branches of overgrown desert grasses. 

We fall into step with an old man, and my curiosity gets the best o me, breaking with tradition I strike up a conversation with him.  I want to know what drew someone like him to make the journey out this way, why the long hot walk when he could have prayed at any of the mosques in town.  His answer is similar to most, he is seeking God and feels that at the Holy sight he can draw closer to him.

“I also seek God” I tell the man “but not by going to the mosque.  I am only going today because I am a tour guide and my guests want to see it.  I draw close to God every day in my own house by reading the Holy books.”

The older man I am talking to, turns to the others travelling with him and repeats with authority all that I have just said.  When he is done, I continue to question him “have you ever read these books?”

“I have a copy of the Koran at home”  he says with pride.

“Is that all?” I ask innocently “What about the Tewrat, Zabour, Injil ( the YOU words for the Old and New Testiments)?  Islm teaches that all of these books are Holy, do you have copies of them?”

He doesn’t answer my question but instead he turns to fellow pilgrims and tells them that the Koran firmly teaches that the Old and New Testement are also holy books.  The funny thing is we are all speaking YOU.  The older man just has a role of elder over the ones he is travelling with, and feels this teaching and instruction should come from him and not from me.  True the other are walking a few feet away from me, so my voice may not carry that far, but if the listened they could all hear what I am saying the first time and there would be no need for the added step, but it gives honor to the older man to be the one sharing truth. 

“When drawing close to God through His Holy Word I find it important to start at the beginning and read the way they were chronologically given to us.  God first had Moses record the Tewrat, then there were others like David that wrote wise words in the Zebor, followed by the Injil filled with stories of the greatest prophet of all, who we learn is really so much more than that, the great Jesus.”  I pause a moment letting him repeat this words to the others 

“What about the Koran?”  he asks innocently.

“the Koran was not written until after the Injil, if you are going to read it, I would suggest waiting until you have read these other works first… than you will better be able to understand what the Koran really is”.  In my head I finished the sentence if “a lie”,  but I didn’t voice that. 

“These books are not in You language”  He says sadly.

I can’t help but kick myself with regret.  I was out of copies of the Word.  The Group I was travelling with this time was relatively small, and we didn’t have room to bring that many with us.  In fact I  had nothing to give this man.  I was out of MP3 players, out of Bible, out of tracks.  He seemed so open to what I was says and I was completely empty handed. 

“Oh, but they are”  I said passionately.  “I have seen them with my own eyes.  Aka (big brother),  if you truly want these books, if you believe with your whole heart that this is the only way you can draw close to the one True God, then you need to ask God to send them to you.”  We were almost to the front door of the desert mosque,  I felt desperate for this man and sad at my own failing to plan well enough.  But I also had to believe that God knew that this conversation was going to happen, I had to believe that he knew that I would have nothing to pass off.  I had to believe that He wants this man to know Him and his word.  And so standing in the desert sun, in front of what the mulims consider a holy sight, I ask this old man if he would let me pray for him.  Together we asked God to send him a bible so he could read it for himself, so he too could draw close. 

It is time for us to go, my final word to the old man is a reminder to pray every day for his own copy of the Bible in YOU.  If he prays everyday believing that God will answer, I know one day the Lord will provide.  Please Prayer with me that this man, and his friends already have a copy of the word, and are growing as they read it.