How My Journey to Jesus Teaches Me about Praying for the Middle East

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, ancestors of Iran, were present at Pentecost (Acts 2:9)  

https://bible.art/p/iWNKTLmLQwVAWpetezXd/acts-2-2

Guest blog by Saideh H. Bonab with Jeanne C. DeFazio

How can Christians pray for everyone to bring peace to the Middle East? Jesus’s solution was for his followers to help everyone to reconcile with God:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20).[1]

Saideh H. Bonab, an Iranian Christian student at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, models how to pray for everyone to receive Jesus. Once I converted to Christianity, I saw the beauty and the power to change lives of my glorious Lord Jesus who instilled peace, love, joy in me, and the desire to love and serve others. I knew that I had made the best decision in my life by believing and trusting in him. One core tenet of orthodox Christianity is that the Lord Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to atone for the sins of all humans, as Peter, one man whose life Jesus Christ changed, reports: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit (1 Pet 3:18).

This is what Saideh herself experienced: Jesus died for everyone: Christians, Muslims, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhists. Jesus is a living God who has thoughts and emotions and speaks to us and guides us because his Spirit is alive in us.  To reach out to a Muslim, I develop a trusting relationship between us.  I have compassion for unbelievers looking at them through the lens of love, respect, and humility through the heart of the Lord Jesus which he opened to me. I don't mock and criticize anyone. I share about my own conversion and change of heart, especially the testimonies of the numerous prayers Jesus has answered as he guides me through my daily life. 

 I have learned that Jesus is the Prince of Peace and does not believe in an “eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.” In Luke 6:29, Jesus taught: “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them” (Luke 6:29). The idea of forgiveness, rather than revenge, is a core message of Christianity. I build a relationship with my Muslim friends with love and respect.  Christians must not forget that once we all were in the darkness and the Lord found us and called us to be his hands and feet. So let us be the Light of Jesus in this dark broken world and bring his light and glory to everyone.

I have found Dr. John Azumah’s book, My Neighbour’s Faith helpful when he states:

Despite the effects of [Muslim] theologians and polemicists over the centuries, and the negative and even hostile news about Jesus that they have produced, many Muslims around the world continue to be fascinated by Jesus. In a survey of over six hundred converts to Christianity from various parts of the world, one in four speaks of the role the figure of Jesus played in their religious development. Many speak of him appearing to them in dreams and visions, sometimes in direct encounters. Their ideas may not be quite clear, but what is clear is that Jesus is encountered as a very real person: a master, a friend, someone who listens and helps.^[2]

As soon as I read this, I got up dancing and crying, realizing that my husband was not the only Muslim who had a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and received him as his Lord and Savior. Over six hundred others are documented to have had direct encounters and visions with Jesus.[3]

All glory to Jesus! As Christians, we need to testify to the living Christ rather than engaging in fruitless debate of who he is and who he is not. The Lord of lords and King of kings performed so many miracles.  These miracles are beyond comprehension. The Lord of glory and majesty cares for the marginalized, widows, the poor, orphans, for everyone from every diaspora, and he is the healer of the sick.  I tell everyone who asks me to pray to believe that Jesus is the healer of our sick bodies and souls. Isaiah 53:4 explains: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering” (which Matthew relates to Jesus’s healing of the demon-possessed and the sick in 8:16-17).

There is no one like Jesus in this entire universe. So, how does prayer impact national and world events? Lisa Schrad explains:

Prayer transforms us, and our individual transformation does bring change in the world. St. Francis put it even better: “Sanctify yourself and you will sanctify society.” It feels so much more glamorous and enticing to go sanctify society first, right? I’d much rather work on problems “out there” than have to face my own sin. But how can we even know what true justice and mercy are—much less how we are called to live them out in the world—unless we are first people whose hearts have been changed by God to love those things?^[4]

In short, praying for others to change begins with praying for ourselves to change to become the people Jesus wants us to be. Praying for other societies to change follows our prayers and our work in changing our own society to be who Jesus wants it to be. The Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples by teaching all that Jesus commands starts out home, then reaches out across the world. Our prayers are based on the change Jesus made in us, his filling us with peace, love, and joy.

When I discovered the real Jesus, I mentioned to my Muslim husband that we were not serving the living God and our God is a bogus God. Then he had an encounter with Jesus and fell in love with the Lord. He was so excited to tell me about his encounter that I thought he would live. He was in the hospital dying of cancer. When he died, shortly after, he died in peace going into Jesus’s everlasting arms.

Today my two favorite scriptures are Mark 8:36 what good is it to gain the whole world and to lose our soul. The other one is Matthew 25:35-36 I was hungry and you fed me, and I was sick and you looked after me, and I was in prison and you visited me. My husband and I have done these, and we practiced hospitality in our humble home. These days our family is emotional because my little girl is graduating and is becoming a scientist just like her father and cries a lot, missing her father. I told her that her dad is present in spirit. She is getting a dual degree and she also won an award with money as she is very excited. The good and gracious Lord has been on our side and a beautiful Provider and has given us joy and his peace.

Jesus has been changing our lives. As I learn more and more about the impact of Jesus’s death for my failings, I want everyone to benefit from his sacrifice. I want everyone of every faith to discover Jesus is a living God whose compassion and love is gracious and kind and brings light to our darkness just as he brought light to my life and the lives of those I love by his great love and care.

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[1] All Bible quotations are from the NIV 2022.

[2] John Azumah, My Neighbour's Faith: Islam Explained for Muslims (Nairobi: Word Alive, 2020), 128.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Lisa Schrad, October 13, 2017, “What Difference Does Prayer Make in the World?” https://intervarsity.org/blog/what-difference-does-prayer-make-world, para 6.

 

 

A Surprising Mother

 “Scribbly and the Red Tornado” by Sheldon Mayer, July 1941, All-American comics, issue 28, 1.

 

On Mother’ Day we celebrate the mothers or mother figures who are the heroines in our lives. In recent years a lot of attention has been paid to Wonder Woman who first appeared October 1941 as a seminal superheroine, but she is not the first in the history of comic books. She is preceded by other female crime fighters in costumes who activate their natural powers,[1] such as superheroines Miss Victory and The Black Cat who both first appeared August 1941 and the Red Tornado who first appeared November 1940 (“the first DC costumed heroine before Wonder Woman”).[2]

The Red Tornado is a mother and a working homemaker, a big healthy strong woman, and her sidekicks are two children, one her daughter, the other a neighbor boy, the “two youngest crime fighters in the world,”[3] the Cyclone Kids. As author Sheldon Mayer describes her: “In a short space of time, the Red Tornado’s name has become a household word! There is no criminal from international bank-robber to petty thief, who does not fear the vengeance of this masked marauder!!! The entire nation is burning with a vast curiosity to know what man’s face lies beneath that metal mask. And no one knows that that face belongs to a woman!...None other than good old Ma Hunkle!!!”[4] How many superheroines fight crime together with their children? The Red Tornado ironically hides her humble identity under a metal cooking pot.

These costumed heroines remind us of our own mothers on Mother’s Day. We remember Bill’s mother, Helen, who for many years won the top prize as outstanding salesperson for Macy’s in Springfield, New Jersey, and who encouraged Bill in many of his life’s ventures. When Bill’s dad was hurt in an industrial accident, his mother singlehandedly supported the family financially during three years of his father’s recovery.

We also remember Aída’s mother, Aída, short for Adelaida, who was the only sibling out of seven (two were men), who worked with her father in his metal and bag business. She was quite a business entrepreneur and helped pay for Aida’s college education through various endeavors, including raising and selling French poodles. (Aida’s job was to sheer the poodles and ensure the puppies were safely born.)

God who created mothers (and fathers) used the imagery of mothers to describe aspects of God’s character even though God is a Spirit and has no gender.[5] For example, God as a mother carries the nation of Israel “from the womb,” lifts it, and supports it from youth “until old age,” “I myself am the One…I myself will bear, I myself have made and I myself will lift up, and I myself will bear and I will deliver” (Isa. 46:3-4).[6] God is like a Super-Mother! God never forgets us (Isa. 49:15). God is also like a lioness and a mother bear. A lioness will roar and protect its young as the Lord protects Israel (Isa 31:4).

So, too, all of us can rely on God to care for us and protect us and enable us to care for and protect others, as God did through the great women of the Bible, like Deborah, who led the Israelite army to fight the enemy, Jael who defeated the enemy’s leader, the wise woman who saved a city, the midwives who rescued the Hebrew children from extinction, Hulda, whom a king and his council consulted for her God-given wisdom superior to theirs, Phoebe who was Paul’s mentor, Prisca, who worked side by side with Paul as an expert teacher, Mary, who was the chosen vessel to bring our Savior into the world and serve as a humble and loving model, and many other women.[7]

God bless you to flourish and follow the lead of these women as you minister to those whom God has entrusted to your care.

Aída and Bill

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[1] The definition of “superhero or superheroine” differs somewhat. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines a superhero or superheroine as “a fictional hero having extraordinary or superhuman powers; also : an exceptionally skillful or successful person” (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/superhero). Dictionary.com clarifies that a superhero must be “a morally righteous hero in a fictional work who possesses extraordinary abilities or supernatural powers and uses them to fight evil” (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/superhero). The Red Tornado is not “superhuman.” She has developed her natural potentialities into “extraordinary” powers. Wikipedia adds: “A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superhero). While Britannica appears to limit “superhero” to those “whose extraordinary or ‘superhuman’ powers are often displayed in the fight against crime and assorted villains, who in turn often display superhuman abilities as well. In many respects, superheroes are like the gods of classical mythology and other mythological traditions,” yet their examples of “superheroines” include costumed women who fight crime with extraordinary human abilities, such as the Woman in Red, Lady Luck, and the Black Cat. (Peter Sanderson and Gina Misiroglu, https://www.britannica.com/art/superhero).

[2] Robert M. Overstreet, The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, 26^th ed. (New York: Avon, 1996), 24. Other than DC comics, earlier The Woman in Red (March 1940) in Thrilling Comics is costumed as she fights crime, but the Red Tornado is the first mother superheroine. Nishid Motwani, “10 Female Superheroes Who Were Created Before Wonder Woman,” Jan. 13, 2021, https://www.cbr.com/female-superheroes-created-before-wonder-woman/.

[3] The Red Tornado calls the children this title in “Scribbly and the Red Tornado, July 1941, All-American DC comics, issue 28, page 4.

[4] “Scribbly and the Red Tornado,” issue 28, 1.

[5] See a description of the images and analogies used for the Trinity in William David Spencer, Three in One: Analogies for the Trinity (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2022).

[6] See further Aída Besançon Spencer, “The Full Vision: Feminine Images for God for Ministry,” ch. 5, in Beyond the Curse: Women Called to Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1985). The Hebrew is translated by Aída.

[7] See further ch. 4, “First Apostles, Second Prophets, Third Teachers: Examples of Women in Authority in the New Testament,” Beyond the Curse.

 

Ma Hunkle

 

 

 

Jaywalking in Cairo

 

                              picture of downtown Cairo April 2025 by Aida Besancon Spencer

We decided to take a walk in downtown Cairo and discovered what was missing were crosswalks and traffic lights (besides the lone one we saw dangling mutely on what was left of its wires). So, everybody jaywalks. Since nobody stopped for any pedestrians, crossing a street appeared improbable, at an intersection impossible. Vehicles kept coming not only down both sides with little visible necessity to stop, but at cross streets from all four sides, as well as from alleys, parking lots, bus stops, taxi stands, driveways, all charging in at the same time. We felt like we were trying to squeeze our way through an assembly line pumping out motor power in all different sizes, barreling in all directions. Most impressive were seasoned pedestrians, today’s artful dodgers, eyes fastened on their cell phones, crossing with an impunity that evoked applause. As cautious tourists, paused like the fleeing Israelites at the Red Sea (but this time one that was emitting gasoline fumes), we waited and waited and waited, searching for an opening. We ourselves are veterans of decades of city ministry and have faced down the most hardened corporate executives who ever floored it to race to their next meeting, but in Cairo traffic we met our collective vehicular nemesis. But, just as we thought we’d have to camp on the sidewalk until midnight before we made our final dash for the distant far side, each time a young executive in a business suit, or a middle-aged worker in coveralls, or a student with books in a satchel quietly came to our side, stood a little forward than us, as the myriad of trucks and cars whizzed by. Suddenly, we’d be given a nod, and all three of us would scurry across the street.

At first, we put out our hands to stop recalcitrant drivers, one of whom answered with an exasperated gesture, adroitly communicating something like: “Why are you in my way? Are you crazy?!” Panting on the other side of the street, we thanked each rescuer, who invariably smiled and said: “Welcome to Cairo!”

Clearly, it is impossible not to fall in love with a people who graciously come alongside one and help one stay alive – when they are not themselves behind the wheel. In fact, everyone we met in the various cities and the countryside of Egypt we explored for a couple of weeks this spring was gracious, pleasant, welcoming, while still serious and intense. It’s true that tourism is Egypt’s greatest industry, and nearly everyone treasures visitors, especially those with American dollars. But this is not a superficial commitment. According to our guide, when radical Jihadists assassinated President Anwar Sadat and then honored his murderers, started shooting tourists, reportedly rigged the elections, and took over control, to the chagrin of all, literally millions of Egyptians filled the streets in protest, forced another election and supervised that one closely, defeating these insurgents soundly. Although this incident took place in the early 1980s, no one has apparently forgotten it and, though the country is at peace internally, we had an armed guard accompany each bus when we toured and three police cars to meet our buses each time we paused to see this country’s wonderful sites – the pyramids, the Sphinx, the treasures and mummy of King Tut, the great dam, the beautiful Nile, flanked on both sides by a Caribbean-like greenery, the museums, the modern hotels, one connected to a vast inner shopping mall of multiple floors, the markets, the temples, the famed Coptic hanging church, suspended in the sky, the hallowed ground where tradition says Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus found refuge in their escape from the murderous Herod, and much more, all sitting on the desert in constant vigilance to preserve the waters of the Nile and their present way of life. .

Though a Muslim country, where amplified calls for prayer blast out each day and some nights in an ambience wherein even the former Christian Nubians have generally converted, Egyptians are serious about preserving religious diversity and, although only ten percent of the country remains Christian, crosses on Coptic Christian Churches shine out in the night and services and festivities are regularly held in honor of the Triune God.

This kind of zeal is exemplified by the venders who not only gather when an excursion ship, like our Viking craft, enters their strip of the Nile, but forge out in boats to meet it, shouting, “Helloooo, Ladies! Look at the nice [rugs, scarfs, shirts, statues, pendants, bracelets, bookmarks, et. al] I have for you!”  Accompanying them are young boys on floating boards, singing songs and hoping for a handout. In one of the towns we visited, as we walked along the marketplace, two vendors waving shirts at us from their neighboring stalls began shouting at each other in such a volume that a policeman came over and joined the shouting until a third vendor, a schoolteacher, came out from his stall and in a calm voice began to quiet them down. While this melee was going on, one of the vendors was pulling a shirt over my head, while the second was trying to have me look at his, and I was shouting (in somewhat muffled terms now), “I don’t want a shirt! We came for a purse for a friend!” The shopping dervish went certainly whirling around us.

But it was all in good spirit, because, once again, we had to remind ourselves, shopping by tourists was their main source of income. And, except for a farewell from our spare Egyptian pounds, we survived it unscathed, with our fists full of shirt, purse, wallet, a collection of coins and outdated pounds and stamps, hand-made wall hangings for Christmas gifts, and dried hibiscus flowers for tea, a national drink.

As all these experiences began to meld together in our minds, Aίda kept thinking of the verse in Psalm 91:11, “[The Lord’s] angels he will place over you to guard you in all your journeys [or paths, or way of life][1] ” Even the Evil One knows the truth about this verse and, as we read in Luke 4:10, tried to tempt Jesus with it. This is obviously not because Satan wanted to honor Jesus with this scriptural promise, but was hoping to break open the battle for supremacy by cajoling Jesus into following his own command to fulfill this scripture and thereby get Jesus to obey him and shift the power to his demands. Jesus, however, was not deceived by this faux piety, but rebuked the Devil, countering scripture with a scripture declaring God is not to be put to the test.

For us mortals a blessing here is that Jesus extends this promise to his followers as well. In John 17:11-12, Jesus’s great prayer for those who believe in him, he asks his Father to protect us, just as Jesus protected his disciples. In fact, all through the Bible, we see verses like Psalm 34:7, which promises the angel of the Lord camps around those who fear God and protects them, just as the Egyptians tried to protect us as we crossed their streets and we visited their ancient sites. We also see direct intervention by God in Peter’s ministry, when an angel sprung him from Herod’s prison in Acts 12, and in Paul’s journey to Rome for trial, when he was encouraged by an angel that he would be rescued in the coming shipwreck in Acts 27:23.

Sometimes, God sends other believers to help us, as Boaz did Ruth, as recorded in their book of love, and Ananias helped Paul regain his sight in Acts 9. Sometimes God sends others who are not yet believers in the gospel to our rescue as Cyrus helped Israel in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, and as the hospitable Egyptians helped us.

The point is that God’s promise to guide and protect us is not just wishful thinking. God does indeed have a life of service planned out for each true believer. For some of us, our lives are brief; for others, they are long. But always, even if we should suffer, God can and does intervene and send us help. And for these many times throughout our lives, we should all be very grateful.

Bill with Aída

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[1] Bill’s translation of the Hebrew text.