When Times are Difficult Consider Said Musa
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Leading a school can be a tough business! I joke with my parents that my job is easy;
I only deal with people’s children, money, and religion!
People can be complainers, inconsiderate, gossips, stubborn, resistant to change, and just downright mean and ornery. Such people can make our jobs and lives miserable.
Before you and I start feeling sorry for ourselves, consider Said Musa’s situation. After reading of his plight I believe we will gain a little perspective on our troubles.
Said Musa’s Story
A terrible drama is unfolding in Afghanistan: There are reports that Said Musa, whose
situation I described at Christmas, will soon be executed for the ‘crime’ of choosing to
become a Christian. (For background, see here.)
Musa was one of about 25 Christians arrested on May 31, 2010, after a May 27 Noorin TV
program showed video of a worship service held by indigenous Afghan Christians; he was
arrested as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy. He converted to Christianity eight years ago, is the father of six young children, had a leg amputated after he stepped on a landmine while serving in the Afghan Army, and now has a prosthetic leg. His
oldest child is eight and one is disabled (she cannot speak). He worked for the Red Cross/Red Crescent as an adviser to other amputees.
He was forced to appear before a judge without any legal counsel and without knowledge of
the charges against him. “Nobody [wanted to be my] defender before the court. When I said
‘I am a Christian man,’ he [a potential lawyer] immediately spat on me and abused me and
mocked me… . I am alone between 400 [people with] terrible values in the jail, like a sheep.”
He has been beaten, mocked, and subjected to sleep deprivation and sexual abuse while in
prison. No Afghan lawyer will defend him and authorities denied him access to a foreign
lawyer.
Any and every human being who is imprisoned, abused, or tortured for the free and peaceful
expression of their faith deserves our support, but Musa is also a remarkable person and
Christian. In a letter smuggled to the West, he says, “The authority and prisoners in jail did
many bad behavior with me about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, they did
sexual things with me, beat me by wood, by hands, by legs, put some things on my head.”
He added a thing much more important to him, that they “mocked me ‘he’s Jesus Christ,’
spat on me, nobody let me for sleep night and day… . Please, please, for the sake of Lord
Jesus Christ help me.” (See the full letter here)
He has also stated that he is willing to give his life for his faith. “Please, please you should
transfer me from this jail to a jail that supervises the believers… . I also agree … to sacrifice
my life in public [where] I will tell [about my] faith in Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, [so]
other believers will take courage and be strong in their faith.”
… The Wall Street Journal reports that “Afghan officials have been unapologetic:
The sentence for a convert is death and there is no exception.
said Jamal Khan, chief of staff at the Ministry of Justice.
They must be sentenced to death to serve as a lesson for others.
Here is Said Musa’s handwritten letter (click on the image to see a larger version).
Our Response:
- Let’s pray consistently for Said Musa and other persecuted Christians.
- Tell these stories to our students so that they understand the price that many Christians are called to pay to follow Jesus—a price that we and they may be called upon to pay as well.
- Use this story in Bible classes, chapels, and staff devotions as an antidote to the false prosperity “gospel.”
- Our struggles are real and they hurt but keep them in perspective. Said Musa lost a leg, has a disabled daughter, has been imprisoned, beaten, humiliated, spat upon, and abused. He will likely be executed for being a Christian. There is no hint of blaming God, claiming God is unfair, etc. Instead, he is willing to die publically to be a witness for Jesus. I don’t know about you, but my meager struggles pale in comparison—in fact there is NO comparison.
- Let us learn to suffer hardship, of whatever sort, for the sake of serving Christ and his kingdom in and through our schools. May God grant us the grace to joyfully endure hardship and to be counted worthy to suffer for his sake. May we mirror Said’s commitment to Christ before our students and parents.