Upper Rooms and Open Doors

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name.” Revelation 3:8, NIV.

We were surprised that on Idul Adha, the holy Islamic day of sacrifice. The local mosque leader or Imam had invited our medical team to make pictures together standing in front of his mosque. Our surprise increased immeasurably when he invited us to return on Sunday morning. We told him that we would be glad to come but that we would need to ‘sembahyang dulu’ (worship first). He said that he would announce our coming to the community over the mosque loud speaker. 

Early Sunday morning several of our neighbors near our base camp asked for medical care; so we invited them to join us at the mosque. Acehnese people came from everywhere, bringing their neighbors and friends! The crowd was so large that several young Muslim leaders protested that they would not be able to worship during the noon hour. The Imam suggested that we soften our voices as he quieted the people.

Later, that same group of young men descended the stairs from their worship on the second floor of the mosque. We approached them to ask pardon for our intrusion. One introduced himself as a member of the provincial government and all proudly identified themselves as members of PKS (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera), a fundamentalist Islamic party operating in the city. As they watched our doctors, nurses, and translators working to help their people, their eyes softened and their hearts opened to the warmth of the love and care being shown by the volunteers.

“Can you help us, too?” they asked. “We have many refugees living in tents in the center of the city on the fringe of the tsumani. Can you come this evening?”

After a brief respite from the afternoon heat and a feverish half hour of replenishing four trunks with medical supplies, we departed for the central PKS refugee camp, where we ministered to several hundred sick and needy people. As the call to worship sounded from a nearby mosque at 6:30 p.m., we stopped our work for 20 minutes at their request. In honor of their religious convictions, we stood or sat with hands open, adopting their prayer posture, asking the Great Physician to have mercy on His beloved Acehnese people even as He had shown His mercy on us. 

We returned to our quarters that Sunday night very tired and very fulfilled, amazed that God had opened such spontaneous doors for ministry with the people and at the sites of His own choosing.

Pray that:

Love, respect, and mercy shown to tsunami survivors by Christian volunteers will continue to soften hearts and open unexpected doors of ministry in Aceh.

Volunteers will not grow weary in well doing, but will persevere until the harvest comes.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.