Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29
Raheela Khanam (1997)
Family Honour
Raheela was gunned down by her brother after she was considered to have dishonoured the family by converting from Islam to Christianity.
The 18-year-old from Lahore, Pakistan, had been befriended by a 17-year-old Christian girl, Saleema, who gave her a Bible. Intrigued by the faith that she saw in her new friend, Raheela decided to attend church with her and on hearing about Jesus, Raheela made a profession of faith.
When Raheela’s parents found out, they were furious and immediately demanded she recant. In a bid to ensure that she would not remain a Christian, they quickly found a Muslim man for her to marry, but Raheela refused and fled to her Christian friends for refuge. Her friend Saleema was arrested, and for three days she and her pastor, who was also detained, were tortured and beaten in an attempt to find the whereabouts of Raheela. A few weeks later, in July 1997, she was found in a woman’s shelter. Her brother, Altaf, shot her dead to avenge the family’s lost honour.
Live near to God, and so all things will appear to you little in comparison with eternal realities.
Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-43)