no greater love: esther john

Esther John was born in a Muslim family in India in 1929. He given name was Qamar Zia, and she was one of seven children. At age 17 she was sent to a Christian school, and was impressed by the faith of one of her teachers. Inspired to learn more about this faith, Qamar began reading the Bible. While reading the 53rd chapter of Isaiah, she converted to Christianity.

A short time later, Qamar's family moved to the newly created Pakistan. Qamar obtained a New Testament from missionary Marian Laugesen in Karachi, and read it in private.

Seven years later, facing the prospect of an arranged marriage, Qamar ran away from home. She returned to Karachi, where she took the name Esther John and began work in an orphanage with Marian Laugesen. On June 30, 1955, she boarded a train for Sahiwal in the Punjab, where she began work at a missionary hospital. In December of that year she celebrated her first Christmas.


The following year, discerning a calling to be a teacher, Esther began studies at the United Bible Training Centre in Gujranwala. When she completed her studies in 1959, she moved to Chichawatni, where she traveled among villages on a bicycle, evangelizing and teaching women to read.

Her career as an evangelist and teacher lasted less than a year. Some time during the night of February 1 or the early morning of February 2 of 1960, she was brutally murdered while she slept. No arrests have ever been made in the case, but it is widely believed that she was killed by her brothers.