Pakistan: The Real Wedding Day
Saba Pervez was one of more than 87 Christians killed in the suicide bombings at All Saints Church in Peshawar, Pakistan on Sept. 22, 2013. A portion of her story was told in VOM's January newsletter. Here is more of her story, as told to VOM workers by her sister, Sumble:
Sept. 21, 2013 was a normal Saturday evening. Saba and I decided to go to church services in the morning. My sister and I were very excited to go church as we had not made it the past few Sundays because we had university examinations. We missed being able to go to the prayer services. We went to bed early so that we could get up the next morning to go to church.
That next morning, Saba got up early to iron our clothes. When I woke up, I saw her ironing her red dress. Both that dress and color were her favorite. I was surprised to see that red dress because it had been a long time since she had worn the color at all.
Last time she wore the red dress, she was embarrassed by all the attention she received. She looks very pretty in red and everybody was looking at her. After that day, she never wore red.
We went to church. The prayer service started at 9 and finished at 11 a.m. The message delivered was from Matt. 6:24, which says, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”
We have a great choir in the church. They sing very nice worship songs. On this Sunday when they started the last worship song, it was a different atmosphere. The Holy Spirit was moving. All the people joined the choir and were singing with them. They were clapping and dancing.
The song was:
Who loved Him,
They drink happily the cup of martyrdom,
They are never afraid of any difficulty,
They took persecution on their body.
The choir and people were repeating these lines again and again. It seems that the Spirit of the saints was moving in the church.
After the song, we went outside the church building. One of the church members brought rice for the congregation as thanksgiving to the Lord. Saba said, “Come, we will eat rice.” Saba brought some rice on a plate and gave me one bite with her hand. As I took the bite, the bomb exploded, and my sister’s red dress became even redder.
Saba was engaged and would be getting married soon. That moment, my sister went with her real groom, Jesus.
In our culture, weddings include the color red, rice, music and songs as well as fireworks. Saba went to church wearing a red dress that morning. There were songs and music, rice and the great firework (the bomb blast). My sister, Saba, went to her real home with her groom, Jesus, that day. I am happy that my sister was ready to go with Jesus.
Come back to the Persecution Blog tomorrow to read the story of another of the All Saints Church martyrs, Khalid, as told to VOM by his widow. VOM provides help and support to the families of martyrs through the Families of Martyrs Fund. We invite you to make a gift online to support those who have lost a family member because of their witness for Christ.