i had mentioned previously that before coming to canada i lived in oman for a little bit more than three years. my first flat was situated right next to a mosque with loudspeakers installed around its minaret so that the muezzin, the official calling the adhan, can be heard in all directions of the village or town. one of the loudspeakers was directly facing my bedroom window. for the first three months of my stay, i would wake up at about 5 in the morning to the adhan and at night before i go to sleep the muezzin's call to prayer would rock me to sleep. i used to be able to recite the whole thing but it has been more than twenty-five years so i had forgotten the whole call.
during the last call to prayer, though, in the evening, i would pull out my bible and recite my favourite psalm as the adhan is being recited in the background. i figured we were praying to the same God, we just call Him different names.
when preparing for my travel to oman for the first time, i mentioned to my would-be employer that i planned to bring my bible with me. he advised me against it but that if i had to i should pack it so that it is not easily noticeable if my luggage was inspected. however, i deliberately carried the bible with me on the plane so when i reached muscat airport and went through customs, as soon as the inspector opened my bag, that was the first thing he saw. he took it, turned it around a few times and leafed through it, then holding the bible in his one hand, he inspected my bag. my worry was not that he would confiscate the bible (i had a feeling that wouldn't happen although i was warned that it had happened to a number of filipino workers before) but that he might go through my little bag of used underwear! i would hate for anyone to touch my underwear, whether used or not.
so i stood there, while the gentleman took his time with my hand-carry and all the while carrying my bible in one hand. when he finally found the little bag of used underwear, he asked me what was in there. i told him 'sanitary napkins and other feminine stuff', to which he reacted by abruptly removing his hand away while saying, "oh, i'm sorry, miss." he patted down the top of the contents of the bag, closed the zipper back and motioned for me to go through. i held my hand towards his hand holding the bible. "oh, yes, your bible. here it is." i thanked him and as i walked away he said, "that's good reading you got there." "have you read it?" i asked, and he shook his head in reply.
-o0o-
i had completed the june-word challenge a few days ago. six months more and it's 2013. wait, didn't someone say the world ends sometime in december this year? :-)
Great shot Vikki- and what an amazing story!! I don't know if you're familiar with a man named "Brother Andrew" but he is a missionary who smuggles Bibles in to countries where it is banned. Many times he has stories where the authorities look straight at the Bibles and let him go. Some people say it's just another book. But I don't see people going to the same extremes to get copies of "other books" like they do the Bible. Yours is an incredibly exciting story!
@olivetreeann - quite a while ago, i've seen a documentary on him. it was an incredible experience at the time. after that, i would have it on my coffee table and sometimes, my driving instructor would pass by especially during prayer time (they have to go to a clean place to pray and so sometimes for him it means disturbing my lunch hour to pray on my terrace) and after praying he would linger in the living room and most times i'd find him reading the bible. he told me that a lot of what we hear about them are not true. like they hate the jews. he said his best friend was a jew pretending to be an arab. an imam i had chatted one time said the bible does not offend him at all. thank you, ann.
You are so daring, putting your Bible where he would have to see it! Love it! Bet that had an effect on him, too! Neat story! And glad he didn't rummage through your bag of undies!!!! Great photo!!
July 3rd, 2012
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