Saturday 5 July 2014

#LoveFast Thank God for Taxis

as part of the #Mahabba  #LoveFast Campaign  - #30days of Prayer&ACTION  during #Ramadan - we received the following story from Alan in Aylesbury (NB the names of individuals have been changed) 



 

When I first moved to Aylesbury five years ago I asked God to show me the key to making friends with Muslim men in the town.  They and their families number about 6,000 or 10% of the population and mainly come from Pakistan. 

God showed me that using taxis would be the key.   As we seldom use taxis I couldn’t see how this would happen.  But about three years ago, after leading a severely disabled man to the Lord in a local residential home, we’ve been taking him to church every Sunday – by taxi! Including loading and unloading the wheel chair and journey time, I reckon we have about 20-30 minutes every week talking with various drivers.     

I discovered that one regular driver, Ahmed, a devout Muslim, had several daughters but only one son in his thirties, who was severely disabled.  I first met Hassan when he was seriously ill in hospital and have since visited him regularly, watching cricket and telling some of the great OT stories. Family members are always present to join the conversation as Hassan needs continuous help.

Hassan recently suffered a stroke which robbed him of his speech.  I cried when I heard that this young man had now become almost completely disabled.  I asked his father if I could pray to Isa-al-Masih for his speech to be recovered and praise God there has been a slight improvement.  I am now a regular visitor to this three-generational family home and am becoming a trusted friend.  I never thought I’d thank God for taxis!