It felt wonderful to be on land again, but Sam noticed that the captain looked nervous. The captain’s eyes kept darting from side to side as if he were expecting to see something. Just then a Bedouin man carrying a long spear appeared. It was so sudden that Sam wondered if he had been there all along.
The Bedouin saluted the men, who saluted back. Then he turned to Kamil and said, “You better not stop in this wilderness. It is full of godless Bedouins who will kill you or rob you of everything.”
Kamil drew himself up to his full height and replied, “We fear nothing, for God is with us and we are His disciples. ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’”
The man grunted and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
“We haven’t seen the last of him,” the captain said grimly. “Mark my words. He’s a scout. They’ll have their hearts set on our boat and all of the luggage. We might have been better off taking our chances in the sea.”
Five minutes later Sam saw one shadowy figure through the rain, then another. Both were armed with spears and arrows.
Chapter 8
Our Hearts Are Changed
Sam stood motionless and watched as two grim-faced men, spears drawn back over their shoulders, walked purposefully toward the boat. When the men were close enough for Sam to see the patterns woven into their robes, they stopped and saluted. Sam smiled and saluted back, as did Kamil. The captain and the rest of the crew stood still as statues rooted to the sand.
“We want coffee. You must give us coffee as rent for the land you are standing on. It is our land, and you have no right to be here,” one of the men said.
There was a long silence. Sam waited for the captain to step forward, but he did not.
“We want coffee. Give us coffee,” the Bedouin repeated. This time he had a harsh edge to his voice.
Sam decided that he had better say something, since it appeared no one else would. “We won’t give you coffee, but you are welcome to some of our dates.”
“No! Coffee!” the second man said, pointing his spear at Kamil. “Coffee!”
“No,” Sam replied, looking the man in the eye.
There was another long pause.
“We do not want your dates. If you won’t give us your coffee, we will take your money. You must pay rent. Do you understand? You are trespassing on our land. If you want safe passage you must pay us money.”
Sam shook his head. “No money,” he said. Just then out of the corner of his eye he noticed movement. Within seconds a crowd of Bedouin women and children surrounded them. They swarmed like bees, grabbing at the men’s clothing, slipping their hands into the food sacks, and pulling at the boat. There were too many of them to stop, and Sam knew they must act quickly or they would be stripped of everything they had. He looked at Kamil and decided that he must be thinking the same thing.
Kamil drew a deep breath and called out, “We will not give money, but you had better think twice before attacking us. The captain has a gun that could kill five or six of you in the twinkling of an eye. If we fight each other, some of you and some of us will surely die. I am not worried for myself, for I have something here in my heart that will preserve me, for my conscience rests on the Lord Jesus Christ. But what will become of you?”
Sam waited to see what response this would bring, but it was as though the Bedouins had not heard Kamil’s words. A group of women seized the boat and started to chant, “We will not let you go, we will not let you go.”
Sensing that this was the moment to take charge, Sam pulled out his pocketknife, opened it, and walked up to the chief Bedouin. As he looked the man in the eye, he reached out and cut off a piece of beadwork that hung from the man’s neck. “This is to remember you by, my friend,” he said.
The Bedouin looked confused, and everyone fell silent.
“In exchange for these beads I have medicine in this boat that I will give you and explain to you how it can treat your ailments, but first we must deal with these,” Sam continued, grabbing hold of the man’s spear and sticking it tip-down into the sand. Kamil did the same with the other man’s spear and then began to pray aloud. The women and children stopped what they were doing and listened. “God, O God of the universe, who made every grain of sand upon which we stand…” Kamil prayed using the Muslim style of prayer as he went on to talk about creation, Moses, the coming of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
As Sam surveyed the scene, it was as if someone had put a spell on the Bedouins. No one moved as Kamil prayed. After half an hour, Kamil concluded, “In the name and for the honor of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Savior.”
All of the Bedouins responded together, “Amen and amen.” One of the men then exclaimed, “Our hearts are changed. Never again in our lives will we cut off the roads, rob on the highway, or speak harshly to a stranger.”
“We will depart now,” Sam said with authority.
The Bedouins stepped back to make way for Sam and Kamil to get to the boat, saying, “Ma-es-Salameh. Go in peace. May God preserve you.”
The storm was still raging as the captain and sailors pushed the flook back into the ocean. Everyone climbed in, and the boat began to float away from the beach. The captain turned the rudder and pointed the boat back in the direction from which they had come.
“We are truly water in water,” Kamil yelled to Sam over the noise of the wind and waves. Sam nodded and prayed silently that the captain would have the wisdom to make the best decision as to what to do next.
“We are going back to Bir Ali,” the captain announced. “We will not make it to Makullah in these conditions.” Then he added, “You are our brothers. If anything happens, we will give our lives for you.”
Even though Sam knew the flook was still in danger of sinking, he sat quietly, filled with astonishment and joy. He could hardly believe the scene he had just experienced. It felt like something right out of the Book of Acts. As long as he lived, he was sure he would remember Kamil’s prayer.
“Sharks! Look! To the left!” Kamil yelled, breaking into Sam’s thoughts. Sam looked to his left. Sure enough, amidst the swirling white foam he caught sight of a triangular fin.
“Do not worry,” one of the sailors yelled. He felt around in the bottom of the canoe with one hand and triumphantly produced a small drum. “This shark drum line will keep them away,” he said, thumping it with the palm of his hand.
Sam smiled weakly. He had far more faith in God to protect them than he did in a drum line.
The boat made it back to Bir Ali safely. Sam and Kamil found lodging and dried out their wet clothing. Thankfully, the Bibles and New Testaments were unharmed. They had been well wrapped in oilskin, and although the covers were damp, the books’ pages were dry.
Once they were warm and dry, Sam and Kamil discussed their options. Since neither one wanted to get back into another flook, they prayed that a larger boat would sail into port. And it did. The following day they found a large vessel bound for Makullah bobbing in the harbor at Bir Ali. Sam and Kamil quickly made friends with the captain and learned that he and the forty sailors aboard were from Muscat on the Gulf of Oman and were making their way home.
By Thursday morning word had spread that two Christians were aboard ship, and Sam found himself surrounded by sailors who wanted medicine for various ailments. As Sam attended to their needs, Kamil drew out a Koran and began to show the sailors that the Koran, the Torah (Old Testament), and the Injeel (the New Testament) were the books of God. Sam listened as best he could. He was always intrigued to hear how clearly Kamil made the connections between the Koran and the two Christian texts.
Every morning and evening and before each meal while they were aboard, Sam and Kamil prayed aloud, knowing that the crew were listening. Before the prayer Kamil always read a portion from the Gospels in the tajweed tone used in reading the Koran. This delighted the crew, who soon tried to outdo each other in being helpful to their two Christian passengers.
On Friday, two of the sailors came to Kamil and asked him to write out the prayers that he and Sam prayed aloud. They told Kamil that they liked his Christian prayers better than their own. Kamil wrote out the Lord’s Prayer for them.
During the next two days of the voyage, Sam overheard the sailors talking to each other about the gospel. “Of a truth these are good men, and their doctrine is light upon light. We must act on what we have heard.” And the crew did act. Before the vessel reached Makullah, they had bought thirty Bibles and New Testaments and assured the two missionaries that they would read them. Sam was overcome with joy.
When the ship reached Makullah, the crew begged Sam and Kamil to sail on with them to Muscat. Sam promised to follow later if it was possible. The sailors had tears in their eyes as they hugged Sam and Kamil goodbye.
With their letter of introduction in hand, Sam and Kamil visited the local sultan, who welcomed the men warmly into his sprawling palace on the waterfront. The sultan offered to lend them a house for as long as they wanted. Two of the sultan’s servants carried their belongings to the house. Then it was time for Sam and Kamil to explore.
Makullah was a well-established town of about seven thousand people. It had finely paved streets lined with large houses, some four and five stories high. The town also had elaborate mosques but no Jewish synagogues or Christian churches. To the right of the town was a large Bedouin encampment clustered around a well.
Just after Sam and Kamil had settled into the house, the local people started knocking on the door. Word had quickly circulated that Sam had medical supplies. Sam set up a makeshift dispensary in the kitchen and began seeing patients. While Sam treated patients, Kamil talked to those waiting their turn about Christianity and offered Bibles for sale.
All went well until the following day when three local boys bought Bibles. In their excitement they took the Bibles to their schoolteacher and asked if they could study the Bible together. The teacher was furious and ordered the boys to burn the Bibles immediately. One of the boys ran back to Sam and Kamil to ask them what to do. Kamil suggested that the teacher come and speak with him.
Some tense moments passed as the two missionaries waited to see what would happen next. Would the town turn against them? The teacher did come to the house and brought two other teachers with him. Sam and Kamil greeted them with courtesy and kindness. After introductions, Kamil invited the teachers to sit. He then said, “Honored teachers, I have called you to take counsel and ask you about a very important matter and to tell you something new. If you find it to be true, help me to carry it out. If it be not true, teach me a better way, and if it be a true way, I will be very much obliged to you.”
Sam tried not to let his smile show. He was impressed by the wise way Kamil approached hostile people.
The teachers replied respectfully, “Speak. We are your hearers.”
“Thank you for your kindness,” Kamil continued. “I would like to read to you from the Koran.” With that he opened a Koran and began to read. The three teachers seemed delighted at how well he read.
When he had finished, Kamil said, “You will be pleased to know that my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, and many more generations back were all Muslims. My father completed a Mecca pilgrimage three times, my brothers have all been on the pilgrimage, and I am not an infidel. This is because I read the Torah and the Injeel. The Koran commands me to read those holy books with reverence and for inspiration. You do not believe me? Hear this.”
Kamil opened the Koran again and read several more passages aloud. He then asked, “Does this Koran speak truth or falsehood?”
“Allah forbid that it should speak falsehood,” one teacher said while the other two nodded in agreement.
“Are my words true? Does not the Koran encourage the reading of the Jewish and Christian scriptures?” Kamil asked.
“Yes,” the teachers replied, “there is no doubting it.”
