Mary is our third Child, born in Cuttack in 1958. Due to frequent transfers in the Railways, we moved from Cuttack to Bhilai, Raipur, Bilaspur and Calcutta. Unfortu- nately till 1969, she had practically no formal education. We sent her to Oak Grove school of the Railways near Mussourie and she completed her Senior Cambridge there. Subsequently, when we were in Allahabad, she was sent to Aligarh Muslim University for her graduate and post graduate courses. We selected Aligarh because that town was the closest to us with a Women’s College. Thus, she was always away from Christian influence in school and college.

However, she was fortunate enough to have lived with us throughout her childhood. She imbibed Christian values in that young age which prepared her to face her teen-age problems. We had great faith in her and we were confident that wherever she was placed in life, she would be a glowing example to others. Her way of life emboldened us to keep her in non-Christian institutions.

Mary had co-education for the first time for her P.G. classes. She met a Palestinian Muslim boy there and slowly fell in love with him. She did not hide the fact from us. Initially we tried to dissuade her from taking such a wrong step. Our main objections were regarding religion, culture, language etc. We were afraid that she would be forced to change her religion, that she was entering a polygamous society, and that she was plunging into the unknown in a foreign country. Further, she would be a total stranger where Arabic was the language and she would not be able to merge into an alien society and culture. Most of all we felt that she would forsake the religion of her parents and forefathers, and that she would have no hold on the upbringing of her children.

She realised our strong resentment and agreed for an arranged marriage with a boy of our choice; but at the same time expressed her fear that she might not be able to lead a stable life. She promised that she would not marry without our consent. In the mean time the boy was in correspondence with his parents, and the boy’s parents also spurned the proposal. We were very happy to hear this news. There was no rumour of any misbehaviour or misconduct on their part, as could be ascertained from the University campus.

One day, suddenly we heard from Mary that she had appealed to the boy’s father in West Bank, Israel and that he was so moved with her pleadings that he accepted her with open arms. This is something which we had not anticipated from a family of orthodox Muslims. Then it became our turn to search within our hearts and take a decision.

We prayed earnestly for God’s guidance. The decision that we were to take was a very difficult one and my wife was heart-broken. We pleaded with God for many days and asked Him to show us His light. God softened my heart gradually and I was able to make my wife see God’s hand in the matter. If God was going to send our daughter to an unknown place as His messenger, we could not stop her from taking that bold step. We found that she was fully prepared to take that plunge. We were comforted by the fact that she had decided to continue to be a true follower of Christ even after her marriage. We were heartened by the decision of the boy’s family to accept her as a Christian. The Muslims normally do not force Christians and Jews to change religion on marriage.

Mahir (that is the boy’s name) came to Allahabad to see us and to ask us for Mary’s hand in marriage. After a lot of heart searching, we gave our consent on Easter Day in 1980. We left Allahabad by the end of April on my retirement from service, at a time when they were having their final examination in M.A English literature. We provided Mary with enough funds to defray her wedding expenses. We did not have the courage to face her marrying a Muslim boy. The wedding was conducted in the University campus by the students. Our e second son attended the wedding as the sole representative of the family. That was the day when Sanjay Gandhi died in an air crash. My wife took comfort over the fact that she was only losing her daughter to an alien land, religion and culture, where as another mother lost her dear son that day forever.

Mary did not take it to heart that we did not attend her wedding. Mary and Mahir stayed with us in Chrompet near Madras for a few days before their departure for West Bank, Israel. My mother who was about 80 years old then fully supported our decision and blessed the couple. All our family members came to Chrompet from different directions to meet them and to wish them well. This was very heartening to us. We are sure that Mary would have drawn great moral strength from the solid support of the family.

As soon as she went to her new home in West Bank, she got fully integrated into the family. She started assimilating their culture. Her parents- in – law liked her immensely. She remained at home without a job for about two years, and she took full advantage of this period to learn Arabic, their customs and habits. Her Christian behaviour shone so brightly that everyone started asking her for advice. Her mother-in-law started depending upon her to settle all her family feuds. Her father-in-law treated her as his own daughter. Unfortunately, he did not live long.

Mary started writing to us almost once every week. Her letters were generally long and gave minute details of her activities there. We are glad that God has moved her to a strange land to be His witness. She is sought after much by her family members to solve their family problems. Her counsel is accepted as God given.

She has been working in the University in Nablus along with her husband for the past twelve years. Her work has been adjudged to be outstanding. Many Muslim boys and girls come to her for advice. The number of hours she puts in for the preparation of lessons for her classes, for setting question papers and for evaluating the answer books has been noticed. When certain class books are not available, she cyclostyles pages and distributes them to students. Sometimes students of other classes come to her for help instead of approaching their own lecturers.

We had the opportunity to visit them twice during this period. We have watched her closely at home and also at her mother- in-law’s place about 20 km away. The way she brings up her four children is remarkable. She sets an example to the children and is very particular about their discipline and behaviour.

Although we would have liked her to be in India, leading a normal life, we trust in God that her mission in life is fully exploited by Him by keeping her where she is. Her radiance falls on many people who have never known Christian concepts and Christian way of life.

May the Lord be praised

-J. A. Raj