Above the great west door at London’s Westminster Abbey are ten statues of 20th-century martyrs of the Christian faith. The statues were unveiled in 1998 by the Archbishop of Canterbury at a service attended by relatives, church leaders, and Queen Elizabeth II. Among the more well-known martyrs are Dietrich Bonhoeffer of Germany and Wang Zhiming of China. However, just to the right of Bonhoeffer is the statue of a young Pakistani Christian woman named Esther John.
Evangelism on the cricket ground
I came to London to represent my local church for a “Taste of Pakistan” prayer walk and an introduction to the Serve Pakistan Cricket ministry in the Punjab region of that country. The cricket ground is one of the few places in Pakistan where both Christian and Muslim young people engage with each other, making evangelism and discipleship possible in the country’s highly segregated culture.
As part of our tour, we watched a cricket match between England and Australia. I’ve had this sport explained to me by several colleagues from South Asia, where cricket is deeply embedded in the cultures and is far bigger than soccer football. Nevertheless, my comprehension of this complicated sport may reach only about 35%. A seven-hour cricket match seems to combine attending an extra-innings baseball game, enjoying all-day food and fellowship on the grounds, and showing off your team’s branded clothing. It is a true cultural experience.
Meet Esther John
Another of our team outings took us to the historic city of Westminster, where Big Ben, Parliament Square, and the magnificent Westminster Abbey are located. We spent an hour on the London “Tube” underground rail system to get to Westminster. Our team had come specifically to see the statue of Esther John, brutally murdered in Pakistan on February 2, 1960.
Esther John was born Qamar Zia in the Indian subcontinent in 1929. As a teenager, she attended a Christian school. According to the Westminster Abbey website, she was “suddenly overtaken by a sense of conversion to Christianity while reading the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah.” Her faith grew privately and secretly as she lived with her Muslim family in the new state of Pakistan.
Facing marriage to a Muslim man, she ran away to Karachi, where she worked in an orphanage and took the Christian name Esther John. Her family continued pressuring her to marry, so she traveled north to the Punjab, where she lived and worked in a mission hospital. Esther was gifted as a teacher and evangelized in villages, traveling by bicycle, teaching women to read, and working with them in the cotton fields.
The Abbey website describes Esther’s martyrdom. “Her death was sudden and mysterious. On 2 February 1960, Esther John was found dead in her bed at the house where she lived at Chichawatni. She had been brutally murdered.”
Our team leader, Bilal*, grew up in the same district in Punjab where Esther John lived and died. His aunt was among the women who discipled Esther. Bilal’s parents served at the Christian hospital where Esther was a Bible teacher. His father and another believer, graduates of the London School of Theology, were instrumental in nominating Esther’s testimony to be remembered at Westminster Abbey.
Better a worshiper than a tourist
After viewing Esther John’s statue and not wishing to pay the heavy fee to enter the Abbey as a tourist, we consoled ourselves with a visit to the smaller but still beautiful 12th-century St. Margaret’s Church on the Abbey grounds. After a short visit, the vicar shooed us out while the church was closed for lunch. Nevertheless, he invited us to return for the Evensong service inside the Abbey at 5 pm. With a twinkle in his eyes, he let us know that Evensong was open to all and that we could experience the Abbey for free during the service. He encouraged us to come early to get a good seat.
I thought to myself that it was truly better to be a worshipper than a tourist. We were not disappointed. No photo can possibly do justice to the majesty of Westminster Abbey’s incredible interior, with the impossibly high Gothic vaulted ceiling (the highest in England) and amazingly tall stained glass windows. The forty-minute service was full of scripture readings, hymns, and special music selections. I left encouraged and spiritually refreshed.
Reflections on our day in Westminster
As we traveled back to our hotel on the London Tube, I reflected on our day in Westminster, especially standing at the foot of the west entrance to the Abbey. Bilal had given us a brief account of Esther John’s life and death and her connection to his family. I was struck by the myriad connections God creates in and for His body and the great sacrifices many are called upon to make, all for the sake of Christ’s kingdom.
As I stood below those ten statues representing men and women, martyrs from multiple nations and traditions, I suddenly became connected to a young Pakistani woman through our host and the work of his father and others. God’s family DNA runs deep and strong through the followers of Jesus.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (ESV)
* Name changed for security reasons
