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I was in a convenience store before heading to the airport trying to think if I needed to pick anything up for my trip. My eye fell on a bag of peanuts and I had the strong impression not just that I “could” get them but that I “should” get them. “Maybe,” I thought, “Where I’m going I’ll have a delay or need something because the place I’m staying won’t have a restaurant open or who knows what…” Anyway, I’ve learned to follow those kind of promptings, especially when headed covertly to a challenging area like this trip to a place under Sharia Law.
On my previous trip to the same place not long ago, I received lot of attention from the customs and immigration people for having a satellite phone. Places with Sharia Law don’t like sat phones because they can’t turn them off. If you remember the Arab Spring in Egypt, the government turned the cell network off. Only satellite phones worked.
Before entering the country the last time, I had clear guidance from the Lord about what to do about my satellite phone. I love going to “frontier” mission areas because the presence and the voice of the Lord is so strong. On that trip, the Lord had told me to expect to be asked about the sat phone and told me exactly what to say.
He told me to say, “I work in remote areas sometimes out of cell network range. On my anniversary I was not able to call my wife, so I got a ‘sat phone’ so that wouldn’t happen again.” (That was true, but it is not the strategy I would have thought of on my own!) When, just as I had expected, I was asked about the satellite phone, I told the officer just what I was supposed to. His angry demeanor changed and he said, “Oh, brother, you have to call the wife on your anniversary! You are free to go.”
This time, on the plane, I saw the reason for the peanuts. Filling out a new version of the customs form, there were a lot of questions about what religious materials were being carried, and what electronics you had. I knew to expect that because of my previous flight. This time another question stood out: “Do you have any plant material or anything that came from a plant.” That question had not been on the paperwork last time. I immediately thought of the peanuts. They are certainly plant material or at least “from a plant.” When I got to the counter to be interviewed about coming in, I had the bag of peanuts in my hand and said, “The form asked about plant material. Are these OK to bring in to the country?”
“Oh, yes sir,” the agent replied. “Thank you for being so meticulous with answering the questions about our regulations. Those are fine. You are free to pass. Have a nice day.” She did not look into my bags, ask any questions about my sat phone, or about the stacks of Christian books, or about my bag of vestments which I was quite concerned about! The Lord knew that the peanuts would distract them so I was able to enter with all kinds of things. Had they gone through my bags, I’m not sure how happy they would have been. I might have had some things confiscated…or worse.
Once inside the country, things were pretty calm. There was still need to be very careful about what was said in public. Evangelism (or proselytizing) was a crime with severe penalties. I was able to spend time meeting with Christian leaders and training with them. They were very excited and glad for the chance to get together and have some teaching on leadership, prayer for healing, and discipleship.
This is a sobering reminder of how we need to engage the issue of Islam, and support the Christians that live in these areas of Sharia Law. It is really sad to see people constantly looking over their shoulders and having to speak in code when they might be overheard.
In Malaysia recently, a seventeen year old boy was arrested, charged with a crime, and taken to court. His offense? He had clicked “LIKE” on a page about Israel on Facebook. It is very foolish to think that we can get along with thinking like that. We need to be very clear about our internal guidance system and be distilled about those things which are important to us and to the Gospel. We need to train people to engage Islam in meaningful ways. Ignoring its advance will lead to being overwhelmed. And it is not just something that is happening in Asia and Africa. Europe and North America have mushrooming populations who believe that Sharia Law should be imposed everywhere on the planet.
During my week behind the Sharia Law curtain, some Christians were encouraged, some clergy and lay leaders trained, and the Kingdom advanced a bit. The Kingdom mandate, however, was not done. We need to think about what we will do in this arena in the future. The need is huge and the stakes are very high. They are also of eternal consequence.
Bishop Bill Atwood is an American Anglican Council contributing author and bishop of the ACNA’s International Diocese.
