Special Night

Last night I attended the baptism of Zohaib Zafar. It was the result of quite an amazing series of events. Flashback to 9 months ago when Tobi and I arrived in Malaysia and started attending the Kuala Lumpur Branch. Among all of the new faces was a beautiful young lady in her early twenties named Zobia Zafar. I later learned that she was a convert of about a year and was from Pakistan. She and part of her family came to Malaysia to avoid the religious persecution against Christians in her country. Her brother, Zohaib, had gone to jail at the age of 15 on trumped up charges and due in part to the fact that he was a Christian, there was no urgency in adjudicating his case. He remained in prison for the next 8 years.

Zobia and her mother came to Malaysia and in a short time, Zobia found the missionaries. She readily accepted the gospel and was baptized in 2008. Several times in talking with her or listening to her bear her testimony she always mentioned how concerned she was with her brother's circumstances. She always asked the members of the branch to pray for her family and her brother in particular.

Recently something happened to allow Zohaib to be released and he was able to join his family in Malaysia. Last night he was baptized. Zobia was asked to give a talk at the service and when she stood up she asked if it would be alright if she gave her talk in Urdu since her brother's English is not the best. She controlled emotions that were obviously close to the surface and, though we couldn't understand the words, the meaning was clear.

It is unusual to have a baptism on a Thursday night, but the timing was important because this morning Zobia Zafar became Sister Zafar and for the next 18 months will be serving in the Singapore Mission which includes Singapore and Malaysia.