Living Behind the Veil

I'm often asked what I wear in Afghanistan and what it's like to wear a veil. It's freedom. Freedom to have a bad hair day, freedom to arrange my chadar to conceal the curve of my breasts and backside, freedom to not be an expatriate for a little while. It means freedom to hide even on the street from the Afghan men's eyes which seem to strip me naked.
When I relax my shoulders and walk less purposefully, less confidently, my eyes downcast and covered by sunglasses, I pass for an Afghan woman. I hear the men whisper in Dari, "Is she a foreigner or local woman?" I chuckle but am silent. On the street, I'm also a free target....freely exposed to groping, sexual innuendos whispered to me as a man bicycles by, free to have stones thrown at me, freely seen as no one's wife, daughter, sister, mother, friend, or boss. I step inside my gate, and remove my chapan and chadar. Now I'm someone's boss, motherhood returns to me as little steps run to greet me, and I receive a kiss from my adoring husband. Now I'm free to his loving and gentle eyes which know and enjoy my curves, free to once again be under the protective umbrella of being a wife, mother, friend, colleague, boss, niece, sister, daughter, woman.

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Going Into the Valley of the Shadow of Death






Beloved, our Cause is a worthy and noble one, for we serve the King of Kings.  

 “We will be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like a mensch, and be strong.” 
1 Cor 16:13 JCB

We fight a tenacious and cunning enemy whose mission is to kill and destroy 
all humankind. 

"Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus."
Revelation 12:17

So we are called 
to go out 
and fight Evil, 
to share the Good News

which is a call to physically go and serve
in dark and dirty and dangerous places
a call to ongoing spiritual warfare
a call to mental resilience
and emotional maturity.

It is not an easy call.
 It includes great loss, 
deep grief, 
sickness, 
and pain; 

We give up "Possibilities of success" in other endeavors, 
all for the sake of knowing Christ and making Him known. 

Because 
We will not sit by and passively accept evil; 
nor will we ignore it or pretend it doesn’t exist. 

We will call evil by its name and exercise spiritual authority over it.  

The weapons of our warfare have divine power to crush enemy strongholds.
We are protected by the armor of God and weapons of light,
which is Christ.

We will keep steady in faith
in God’s power
which gives us victory
over the powers of darkness.

Yahweh says this to you, 
Do not be afraid, do not be daunted by this vast horde; this battle is not yours but God’s.
(2 Chronicles 20:15-17)

This day, 
this place, 
this generation, 
we are resolved
to engage in battle and fight and destroy 
the Gates of Hell in our neighborhoods, 
wherever and whenever we see them
by bringing the cup of cold water of His peace and His Love.

We engage the powers of darkness using Christ's power in us and through us to rescue men, women, and children who have been taken captive, 
whether from

the Tambora slums of Jakarta,   
the militarized Kabul city, 
San Pedro Sula's murder capital of the world,
Vermont covered in a haze of drugs,
Angola and Burundi stricken with drought,
Tallinn, a place of drug and human trafficking
the unsafe areas of Europe where refugees fight for survival, 
a world gone mad with drugs and guns and leaders drunk on power, death and destruction; 

We go together, as brothers and sisters of His Family 
which places no value on the shade of skin color
or the shape of one’s eyes
and which knows 
no ethnic boundaries, 
no higher caste, 
no royalty, 
no patron
no slave
only Christ and His Spirit in us. 

We are his family whether from 
Manchester, 
or Moscow, 
or Memphis, 
or Masterton, 
or Mumbasa,
or Mumbai,
or Mussafah,
or Macau, 
or Montreal,
or Munich. 

We move forward for our Eternal King and His Good Kingdom. 
We will not stop until our bodies lay in the dust and He takes us Home. 

We serve a God of Peace who will crush Satan under our feet.  
(Rom 16:20).  

So we will take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God 
and war on behalf of Righteousness.

There is no armor for our back sides,
so we will not shrink back 
cease, 
turn away,
or be still,

 but we will be
alert, 
sober, 
and vigilant. 

We will choose 
with joy
to 
face dangers, 
endure sufferings, 
persevere in persecutions, 
be gracious in sicknesses, 
until death closes our eyes. 

We will be characterized as 
Men
women 
boys
and girls
 with

 courageous combat faith, 
with a wartime mentality,
and transcendent joy, 

 who will do the right thing even when we are afraid

and

with the heart of our King.  

Keep your eyes open, 
hold tight to your convictions, 
give it all you've got, 
be resolute, 
and love without stopping. 
I Corinthians 16:13 The MSG


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