One Encounter with a Weeping Gardener

My husband and our teammate were out walking in a park when they noticed a Pashtun man gardening in the yard of a large mansion across the street.  Wanting to meet and say hello, the two guys crossed the street and started a conversation with the gardener.

Initially, he was shocked that these two western men would know his language, but then deeply touched that they would take the time to talk with him.

As they chatted with the gardener, my husband asked the gardener how they could pray for him. Immediately, he broke down in tears. Life for him in the area had been heavy and the burdens seemed unending.

It is notable that a Pashtun man weeping is so rare, so inexplicably absurd, that it is often a feature of their comedic sitcoms. Pashtun men have the reputation of being steely and dignified.

Unbridled tears are a stark contrast to any Pashtun man’s image.

The gardener had a difficult story, but not an uncommon one.

He had recently left his family behind in another country to work long days in the scorching hot sun of the Middle East. His wages are meager, but they are far more than he could earn in his home country.

His sacrifice means going years on end without being able to hold his children or kiss his wife. It means major family events go on in his absence, but he continues working in order to fund weddings, funerals, family gatherings, school tuition, and other needs of his family.

He works tirelessly every day, his only satisfaction being that his children will have a better life in their home country than the one he is living now.

What kind of sacrifice is this? It is an odd paradox; a man leaving his family not out of apathy or indulgence, but out of determination to end their poverty. He pays a high price for the ones he loves.

Subjected to squalid living conditions and harsh treatment by his employers, a Pashtun man suddenly becomes the very lowest rung on the socioeconomic ladder.

He leaves his impoverished country to become a laborer in an extravagantly wealthy one, but now he is treated like an animal.

His family back home may never know the intense difficulties he endures, but to spare them anxiety and to preserve his own honor, he will never tell them.

Together in the lawn of the mansion, the three men held open their palms and prayed for God’s comfort and peace to surround the gardener.

In the midst of their struggle and loneliness, many men turn to worldly pleasures for comfort.

But some Pashtun men hear the words of Jesus for the first time and find great comfort in his promise to give rest to the weary and heavy laden.

Unlike the treatment they receive from their wealthy employers, Jesus is gentle and humble in heart.

Please pray that Pashtun men all over our city would see Jesus as their real comfort. Ask that they would not run to the ways of the world to find solace, but rather to the widespread arms of Jesus.