A Big Life: Faizal- Part 2

Thank you for joining us for Part 2 of the extraordinary story of Faizal from Peter Hone's new book A Big Life. We pray that you will be deeply impacted by this story of God's redeeming grace and unconditional love. Enjoy.

A welcome breeze lifted the fringe of his hair, and he lifted his face and closed his eyes to enjoy the momentary relief from the heat. As he opened them again, he saw a dust devil a little way off, red sand rising and twirling as it danced in circles a foot above the ground, slowly moving toward him. In among the red was a flash of white, and he watched until it died, and a scrap of paper landed at his feet. He reached down and picked it up. It was a part of a torn page of a book, but a very thin and fragile page. The words were printed, very small, but clear. He read it.
   "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Faizal looked away for a second, and then he read it once more. He had no idea what it was, but he knew it was not the Koran so he crumpled it in his fist, intending to throw it away. But even as he raised his arm to toss it, he knew he could not. He had to finish reading it. Opening his hand he smoothed out the paper and read on.
   "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
Something inside him stirred. Mercy? There could be no mercy for his enemies. Mercy had no part in his recent training. And surely the kingdom of heaven is for the strong, not the poor in spirit. He could not accept this. But as he read the words over and over, he felt their power, and he knew with his whole heart and his whole mind that this was truth. From where did this teaching come?


Some weeks later, he received the call to jihad. He packed up his things, bid his proud father farewell, then left his home. But he did not report to the Taliban because he could not. Instead, he stayed at the home of a close friend, hiding out from hid family, the Taliban, and the world. Faizal was in an agony of doubt. It was not fear that had changed him because Faizal was no coward. No, it wasn't fear; it was something else, something that he did not yet understand.


He carried the scrap of torn page everywhere, and he kept looking at it, reading it, and wondering why it was so powerfully affecting him. What else could prevent him from responding to the call for jihad when it had been his life's ambition a month ago? He finally showed it to his friend who thought he recognized "the kingdom of heaven" as Christian.


A week later, Faizal met with a Christian, a former Muslim, on the outskirts of the city. The Christian was stunned to be contacted by this man who revealed after some questioning that he was a Taliban fighter, and he agreed to meet but insisted that it be in the back room of a cafe' in the Christian part of town. "You can't meet him there. He is a Christian. It is dangerous to trust him-suicidal," said Faizal's friend. But by now, he was focused on only one thing: a small scrap of paper. Faizal found the Christian friendly but unsure of him. Their small talk was awkward, so Faizal took out the scrap of paper and just handed it to him. 
"What is it? Is it Christian?" he asked bluntly.
The man read it then nodded.
"Yes, it's Jesus," he replied.
"It's about Jesus, Jesus the prophet?" Faizal asked, frowning.
"No, this has been torn from a Bible. This is not about Jesus. These are the words of Jesus." The Christian stared into Faizal's face defiantly. "And Jesus is not just a prophet. He is God, and the Savior of the world."


But Faizal was not listening to this. He was thinking of what the Christian had said before. The words of Jesus? The words of Jesus?


Everything seemed to stop. Suddenly, there was nothing in Faizal's existence except the realization that Jesus Christ had spoken to him. He recognized instantly that he had been called in pure love, and then he fell to his knees and cried out in utter despair at the brutal awareness of his own sin. The Christian also fell to his knees, putting his arms around Faizal, comforting him. After some minutes, he led him in a prayer of repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance-a prayer of salvation.


When Faizal was praying later that night, he could think only of the finality of his life that would accompany his new faith. But this was only the beginning of everything, and soon Jesus was leading him to new life and directing him to the work he had for him to do. Soon, Faizal was talking not of death, but of mercy, and directing Muslims to the kingdom of heaven.


Soon, he was serving his God through a ministry named Big Life.

(Exert from "A Big Life" by Peter Hone. Used with permission.)

Read about Big Life on our International Ministries page or visit their website at www.biglifeministries.com.

Also visit our Resources page to order a copy of A Big Life and see other books and resources.