Farzan had come to India desperate for a way to get medical help for his son.

The child had been out playing with his cousins back in Afghanistan, their home country, when they accidentally tripped a land mine. The explosion had left his son blind.

Farzan had sought every avenue for his son’s healing. When those failed, he started saving to bring the boy to India—a short flight from Kabul. Surely more options for healing existed outside of Afghanistan.

Landing in India, Farzan and his son found a small room to rent in the middle of a large city. They visited as many doctors as they could afford, but none could help. Each one said that it was impossible to restore the boy’s sight by medical means.

But Farzan wasn’t willing to return to Afghanistan yet. They had already paid a full month’s rent on their small, bare room.

In the same neighborhood was a shrine where the body of a famous and revered Muslim saint lies. His tomb is considered a place of spiritual power and it draws pilgrims from all over the country—as well as from abroad—asking God to grant them favor in the name of this saint.

“Muslims come to the shrine with all sorts of problems,” says Jessica, who, along with her husband Ari, serves with a Frontiers team in the neighborhood. “They come with illness, debt, and infertility—all hoping that the power of this place will bring God’s healing.”

Farzan decided they would also join the pilgrims at the shrine and beg God for healing.

For the remainder of the month, they went to the shrine almost every day. First, they would stop at an old man’s stall at the entrance to buy incense and flowers to lay on the tomb. Then, as they entered, Farzan would run his hands along the doorframe, touching his son’s face in an attempt to transfer the shrine’s spiritual blessing to the boy. They’d pass the rest of their time sitting among the other pilgrims, reciting the Qur’an and praying.

But no physical healing happened.

On their last day, Farzan took his son to the shrine, laid flowers on the tomb, and prayed in the courtyard as other pilgrims shuffled around them.

“Come, let’s go and pack our things,” Farzan finally said to his son. “Tomorrow we go home.”

They stepped into the busy alleyway. The boy hesitated when he heard the now familiar voice of the old man selling flowers. His small hand lightly touched the garlands.

Ari had been passing through the alley and had paused across from the entrance to the shrine. He watched the boy caress the flowers, seeing him take in their details with his fingers.

Ari strode toward them just as Farzan gently pulled his son’s hand to go.

“Your son, is he blind?” Ari asked Farzan after a brief introduction. Farzan nodded and recounted their story. Ari silently thanked God for arranging this encounter.

Just that morning, Ari and Jessica had asked God to show them whom they could bless in Jesus’ name. They felt God instructing them to look for opportunities to pray for the blind that day.

“Can I pray for your son?” Ari asked. “God told me to pray for the blind today, and I’d like to ask God to heal your son’s vision in Jesus’ name?”

“Yes, please!” Farzan said, holding his hands out in supplication. Ari touched the boy’s shoulder and blessed him in the name of Christ with new sight.

Nothing happened—at least, not in a physical sense. Farzan thanked Ari for blessing his son, and they walked away.

“We don’t know how God may use that prayer,” Ari says. “Maybe the son was healed, maybe not yet.” Regardless, Ari and Jessica keep listening to the Lord and praying in faithful obedience.

“We are really open about our faith in Jesus, and we pray openly for people in our neighborhood all the time,” says Jessica. Often, large groups of people gather around them as they start praying for people. “They see that healing prayer is going on in the name of Jesus Christ, and more and more people want that. So many people are desperate for God’s power to touch their lives. As we pray, we see so many doors open to share the Word of God with Muslims.”

Praise God for Frontiers workers who are sharing the power of Jesus Christ in desperate places and among desperate people. Pray for many healings and even more opportunities to preach the Gospel in their neighborhood.

**This account comes from a long-term worker. Names and places have been changed for security.**

Original article: FrontiersUSA.org/blog/article/the-afghan-pilgrim